THE  TEACHER'S 

ROBINSON 
CRUSO 


Southern   Branch 
.  of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 


LOS  ANGELES 
STATE  NORMAL  SCHOOL 


311 

APR  2  4 


AN  3 


NOV  7      1324 


ocTsc  : 

OCT  15  1926 
OCT  2  9  im 

NOV  .  1  im 


^^^T  2  3 


^336 


WAR  29  19^ 


i 


THE  TEACHER'S 

ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

A  Manual  for  Primary  Teachers 


THE    STORY    REWRITTEN,    MODERNIZED    AND    ADAPTED,    WITH 

ADDITIONAL  INCIDENTS  FOR  USE  IN  THE  LATER  PRIMARY 

GRADES   AS   A    CENTER   AND   MATERIAL  FOR  ORAL 

AND  WRITTEN  LANGUAGE,  NATURE  STUDY, 

SOCIAL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HISTORY, 

ETHICS,  DRAWING  AND  THE 

MANUAL   ARTS 

a  <^  ^5-4^ 

THE  ADAPTATION,  WITH  ADDITIONAL  INCIDENTS,  INTRODUCTION 
AND   SUGGESTIVE    TREATMENTS   OF   THE   TEXT 


SAMUEL  B.  ALLISON,  Ph.D. 

Principal  of  the  Walsh  School,  Chicago,  III. 

% 


EDUCATIONAL  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

BOSTON 

New  York  Chicago  San  Francisco 


Copyright,  1910 

BY 

EDUCATIONAL  PUBLISHING   COMPANY 


V",  \ 


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XLbe  Maldb  Scbool» 

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and 

intelligent  appreciation 

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development  of  tbe 

dublect  poBBible. 


CONTENTS 

I 

Robinson  with  His  Parents 

-     25 

II 

Robinson  as  an  Apprentice 

28 

III 

Robinson's  Departure          .... 

-     32 

IV 

Robinson  Far  from  Home 

-         36 

V 

The  Shipwreck 

-    39 

VI 

Robinson  Saved 

42 

VII 

The  First  Night  on  Land  .... 

.     44 

VIII 

Robinson  on  an  Island    .... 

49 

IX 

Robinson's  Shelter 

-     52 

X 

Robinson  Makes  a  Hat  .... 

.         56 

XI 

Robinson's  Calendar           .... 

.     60 

XII 

Robinson  Makes  a  Hunting  Bag 

64* 

XIII 

Robinson's  Shoes  and  Parasol     . 

.     68 

XIV 

Robinson  Explores  the  Island 

72 

XV 

Robinson  as  a  Hunter         .... 

-     76 

XVI 

Getting  Fire            ..... 

79 

XVII 

Robinson  Makes  Some  Furniture 

.    82 

XVIII 

Robinson  Becomes  a  Shepherd 

-        85 

XIX 

Robinson  Builds  a  Home  for  His  Goats 

.    89 

XX 

Robinson  Gets  Ready  for  Winter 

93 

XXI 

How  Robinson  Lays  up  a  Store  of  Food  . 

-    97 

XXII 

Robinson's  Diary   ..... 

lOI 

XXIII 

Robinson  is  Sick         ..... 

.  106 

XXIV 

Robinson's  Bower  ..... 

109 

XXV 

Robinson  Again  Explores  His  Island 

.  114 

XXVI 

Robinson  and  the  Birds  .... 

-      "7 

6 

CONTENTS 

XXVII 

Robinson  Gets  Fire 

.    122 

XXVIII 

Robinson  Makes  Baskets 

126 

XXIX 

Robinson  Becomes  a  Farmer  . 

-        131 

XXX 

Robinson  as  Potter    .... 

.      •        137 

XXXI 

Robinson  as  Baker 

.        141 

XXXII 

Robinson  as  Fisherman 

.    145 

XXXIII 

Robinson  Builds  a  Boat 

.    151 

xxxrv 

Robinson  as  a  Sailor 

.        150 

XXXV 

A  Discovery      ..... 

.           .    165 

XXXVI 

The  Landing  of  the  Savages    . 

.        166 

XXXVII 

Robinson  as  Teacher 

.    172 

XXXVIII 

Another  Shipwreck 

176 

xxxrx 

Saving  Things  from  the  Ship 

.    180 

XL 

The  Return  of  the  Savages 

.           .         187 

XLI 

Deliverance  at  Last   .... 

•    193 

XLII 

Robinson  at  Home  .... 

.        197 

INTRODUCTION 


I    THE    TEXT 

Nothing  need  here  be  said  about  the  merit  of  the  Robinson  story. 
The  fact  that  it  has  fascinated  and  still  is  fascinating  generations, 
proves  its  intrinsic  worth.  It  is  owing  to  its  deep  and  perennial  in- 
terest that  an  attempt  is  here  made  to  use  it  as  a  means  of  instruction. 
It  is  here  attempted  to  bring  within  the  focus  of  this  interest  the 
language  or  expressive  skill  and  to  some  extent  the  manual  work  in 
the  school  —  to  use  it  as  a  content  to  be  expressed  in  these  different 
ways.  The  purpose  is  to  furnish  a  content  not  only  rich  and  worth 
while  in  itself  but  to  use  it  for  the  purpose  of  getting  skill  in  all  oral 
and  written  language,  illustration,  and  the  manual  arts. 

The  text  here  given  is  a  very  free  adaptation  of  the  original  story. 
The  main  departure  is  that  Robinson  gets  nothing  from  the  wrecked 
ship.  It  is  years  afterward  that  he  obtains  tools  from  another  ship 
wrecked  off  the  island.  Incidents  have  been  added  and  departures 
made  wherever  it  was  thought  best  to  do  so.  Robinson,  in  the  adapted 
version,  lived  in  New  York.  This  gives  the  story  a  more  familiar  air 
and  adapts  it  better  to  primary  work.  Indeed  any  other  city  could 
as  well  be  used.  For  Chicago  children  he  could  better  perhaps  be 
placed  in  that  city.  In  this  way  the  normal  direction  of  education 
instruction  would  be  conserved. 

The  idea  of  such  an  adapted  Robinson  Crusoe  was  first  obtained 
from  a  German  version  of  the  story  by  William  Rein.  A  translation 
was  made  of  this  version  and  used  for  some  years  in  Chicago.  This 
version  may  be  considered  as  the  starting  point  for  the  present  one. 
It  has  been  almost  entirely  rewritten,  however,  as  it  was  meagre  in 
detail,  inaccurate,  and  unsatisfactory  in  many  other  respects.  This 
rewriting  has  been  done  with  especial  reference  to  accurate  details  of 
the  animal  and  plant  life  of  the  island  which  Defoe  undoubtedly  had 
in  mind  when  he  wrote  the  immortal  story,  and  to  invention  and 

7 


8  INTRODUCTION 

evolution  in  the  several  industrial  arts  and  pursuits.     The  ethical  and 
social  values  have  also  been  emphasized. 


II    THE   VARIOUS   VALUES 

On  the  informing  side  the  Robinson  has  been  considered  as  pos- 
sessing a  threefold  value,  (i)  It  has  value  as  nature-study  and 
geographical  material.  (2)  As  a  social-industrial  history.  (3) 
As  a  medium  of  ethical  instruction. 

(i)  Its  Nature  Stxtdy  Value.  The  very  best  way  to  study 
nature  is  of  course  to  give  opportunity  for  actual  sensuous  contact  on 
the  part  of  the  learner.  But  if  our  knowledge  of  the  world  were  con- 
fined to  such  actual  sensuous  contact  it  would  include  a  very  small 
number  of  objects  of  which  we  really  have  intelligent  comprehension. 
Most  of  our  knowledge-objects  belong  to  the  Universe  of  Discourse 
rather  than  to  the  Universe  of  things  material.  Education  is  and 
must  be  always  an  introduction  into  the  Universe  of  Discourse.  It 
is  granted  that  his  progress  therein  and  its  value  to  the  child  depends 
upon  the  range  of  his  actual  sensuous  contact,  or  the  breadth  of  his 
direct  experience.  If  the  learner  has  a  fair  measure  of  direct  experi- 
ence or  interpretive  material,  his  knowledge,  secondary  it  may  be, 
may  be  built  out  in  all  directions.  He  may  be  introduced  into  the 
world  of  words  and  make  progress  therein  under  skillful  teaching. 
It  is  a  matter  of  widening  the  range  of  concepts  by  the  inclusion  of 
new  material  under  them  in  the  form  of  symbols  or  words.  Good 
ft,>  teaching  will  of  course  always  keep  well  within  the  child's  range  of 
'"  interpretive  material.     It  will  not  advance  faster  than  the  rate  at 

which  the  old  meanings  can  assimilate  the  new. 

Skillful  instruction  will  always  use  whatever  objects  there  are  at 
hand  to  aid  in  forming  adequate  ideas.  Pictures  are  invaluable  aids. 
Careful  planning  will  get  together  illustrative  materials.  Zoological 
and  anthropological  exhibits  are  available  in  Museums. 

Thus  it  is  possible  to  start  with  the  child's  present  stock  of  direct 
experience  and  gradually  go  out  to  the  more  and  more  remote.  Each 
step  taken  should  be  used  as  an  instrument  for  further  advance. 

The  Robinson  is  rich  in  nature  study  suggestions;  plants,  animals 
and  materials  of  a  new  world  and  remote  zone  are  presented  radiant 
with  the  interest  reflected  from  the  hero  of  the  tale. 
(2)    The  Robinson  as  Industrial  History.    The  version  here 


INTRODUCTION  9 

presented  aims  to  be  an  epitomized  industrial  history.  Robinson 
begins  with  nothing  but  his  hands  and  at  length  wins  from  inhospi- 
table nature  food  and  shelter,  clothing  and  comforts.  In  doing  this 
he  reinvents  the  appliances  of  primitive  industry  and  makes  a  begin- 
ning in  each  industrial  art.  In  his  struggle,  experimenting,  failures 
and  successes,  racial  history  is  recapitulated  and  the  arduous  path  of 
progress  revealed. 

Much  is  said  now-a-days  about  making  the  school  an  ideal  social 
community.  It  is  contended  that  it  should  reproduce  or  stand  for 
the  highest  projection  of  the  social  ideal.  The  school  should  be  a 
real  living,  not  a  make  believe.  But  how  can  the  school  be  the  ideal 
social  unit  or  group  unless  the  relative  values  and  worth  of  social 
activities  be  maintained  in  the  school.  How  can  a  real  social  life  be 
maintained  within  it  unless  it  is  centered  in  the  real  social  way?  On 
this  view  it  is  clear,  that  the  school  should  be  centered  around  those 
social  functions  that  arc  the  center  and  core  of  the  community  life. 

It  will  be  readily  agreed  that  the  industrial  arts  in  the  social  life  are 
the  most  fundamental.  They  are,  largely  at  least,  the  bonds  that  hold 
society  together.     Society  is  a  superstructure  built  upon  them. 

Every  member  of  society  has  some  relation  to  these  fundamental 
activities.  A  large  majority  of  citizens  is  actually  engaged  in  them. 
But  so  far  has  the  division  of  labor  gone  that  the  industries  have  lost 
sight  of  their  mutual  interdependence.  The  workers  in  one  field  do 
not  see  the  real  imjxirtance  of  their  specialty  in  relation  to  the  whole. 
And  thus  labor  loses  the  sustaining  power  of  social  and  emotional 
reactions.  As  the  isolation  of  the  different  occupations  increases,  the 
more  marked  is  the  loss  of  sympathy  and  solidarity  that  are  so  essen- 
tial to  the  social  welfare. 

Now  from  this  standpoint  education  may  be  defined  as  the  bringing 
the  child  into  complete  and  sympathetic  understanding  of  all  the 
parts  of  our  complex  social  life.  As  the  years  of  maturity  come,  the 
sense  of  the  unity  of  the  whole  should  strengthen.  The  social,  ethical 
and  aesthetic  values  that  come  from  a  wide  outlook  and  broad  sym- 
pathies should  uplift  and  ennoble  the  worker  in  whatever  field,  c^  Each 
must  be  brought  into  a  sympathetic  participation  of  all  difficulties, 
hardships  and  pleasures  of  all  the  groups  and  divisions  of  the  social 
organization. 

But  at  the  outset  the  school  meets  with  almost  insuperable  ob- 
stacles in  any  attempt  to  realize  such  an  end. 

The  first  difficulty  is  the  complex  nature  of  the  social  life  taken  at 


lo  INTRODUCTION 

its  present  level  of  development.  So  far  has  the  separate  occupa- 
tions diverged  that  they  seem  at  casual  view  to  run  parallel  —  to  be 
independent.  So  that  the  whole  of  which  they  are  the  parts,  is  ob- 
scured. Among  so  many  apparently  isolated  parts,  no  unity  can  be 
found.  Over  against  this  specialized  content  we  have  the  weak, 
unorganized  powers  of  comprehension  of  the  child.  This  is  the 
first  problem. 

The  second  difficulty  is  that  such  an  emotional  or  sympathetic 
attitude  toward  the  elements  of  the  social  life  cannot  be  given  by 
formal  instruction.  It  may  do  something  but  not  much.  The 
difficulties  of  each  must  be  real  problems  to  the  child  before  he  can 
have  any  real  valuable  social  experience  —  before  he  can  feel 
really  the  meaning  of  the  different  social  situations.  We  have  not 
here  an  intellectual  problem  wholly,  but  an  emotional  or  ethical  one 
as  well.  A  mere  contemplative  knowledge  of  social  affairs,  however 
broad  and  complete,  will  not  fill  the  requirements  of  the  end  set  up. 
This  knowledge  must  have  emotional  reaction.  The  efficient  social 
factor  is  active  as  well  as  contemplative.  Social  problems  are  to  him 
something  more  than  problems  of  the  intellect. 

These  are  the  difficulties.  How  may  they  be  overcome?  It  is 
plain  that  to  begin  with  a  cross  section  of  the  intricate  network  of  the 
social  life  at  its  present  level  as  a  content  and  attempt  to  comprehend 
it  as  a  whole  and  in  its  manifold  relations,  is  a  task  far  beyond  the 
feeble  grasp  of  the  child.  Equally  hopeless  would  be  the  attempt, 
to  start  with  any  special  factor  of  the  industrial  life.  Wherever  one 
might  penetrate,  one  would  find  parts  and  ends  of  the  industrial 
processes  whose  unraveling  and  reconstruction  would  be  just  so  far 
beyond  the  child. 

The  solution  of  this  difficulty  is  not  far  to  seek.  A  cross  section 
of  the  social  life  must  be  taken  farther  down  in  the  stream  of  develop- 
ment at  a  point  of  departure  where  the  divergence  has  hardly  begun 
and  where  the  mutual  interrelation  and  interdependence  is  manifest 
because  of  the  simplified  form.  That  is,  the  presentation  must  be 
historical.  From  crude  undifferentiated  beginnings  the  various  occu- 
pations have  emerged  into  an  apparent  freedom  or  independence. 
Go  back  far  enough  and  we  find  them  all  contained  within  the  circle 
of  the  simplest  living.  To  start  at  this  level,  get  a  grasp  of  the 
various  lines  and  follow  them  into  greater  and  greater  divergence  and 
freedom  will  not  necessarily  mean  to  lose  sight  of  their  interconnec- 
tion and  functional  unity.     So  much  for  the  intellectual  problem. 


INTRODUCTION  1 1 

The  solution  of  the  emotional  problem  seems  to  lie  in  the  direction 
of  making  the  difliculties  attending  the  social  advance  from  crude 
beginning  to  specialization  of  function,  real  ones  for  the  child  —  at 
the  same  time  emphasizing  the  importance  of  the  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem in  its  relation  to  further  advance.  This  participation  by  the 
child  in  the  social  life  must  be  an  active  one.  He  must  actually  meet 
and  solve  the  difficulties  as  they  arise  if  he  is  to  get  social  experience 
and  the  proper  emotional  reaction.  Of  course,  at  no  time  does  the 
child  lose  sight  of  his  own  identity  or  the  fact  of  his  looking  down 
from  a  greater  social  height. 

There  is  then  both  sociological  and  physiological  warrant  for 
interrelating  the  industrial  arts  with  a  historical  content  which  shall 
put  them  in  their  relation  to  human  advance  and  advancement  and 
shall  make  them  a  means  of  wider  social  view  and  deeper  social 
feelings. 

It  is  just  this  aspect  of  the  present  Robinson  that  will  commend 
itself  to  thoughtful  teachers.  It  is  a  social  study.  It  is  a  study 
in  the  social  life  in  its  simpler  primitive  form.  It  is  a  cross  section 
of  life  back  in  its  crude  beginning.  Each  occupation  and  invention 
is  seen  with  reference  to  human  need  and  in  its  relation  to  the  whole. 
It  is  seen  how  each  trade  grows  out  of  a  need,  what  has  been  its 
struggles  and  problems  and  triumphs. 

Such  a  content  affords  opportunity  to  present  the  industrial  hand 
works  as  problems  of  satisfying  desires,  whose  solutions  are  of  the 
utmost  importance  and  value.  Thus  a  motive  and  setting  is  given 
to  each  step  forward. 

Even  if  the  reinvention  of  primitive  tools  and  weapons  cannot  be 
completely  carried  out,  yet  the  industries  are  seen  in  their  proper  and 
ethical  relationship  to  the  community  life. 

Little  opportunity  is  given  for  work  in  the  thin  woods.  This 
comes  from  the  nature  of  the  case.  Industries  using  the  less  resisting 
mediums  first  developed,  such  as  basketry,  clay  moulding,  pottery, 
spinning  and  weaving.  These  handworks  all  will  admit  are  best 
suited  to  the  primary  grades.  These  occupations  are  best  presented 
as  problems,  the  solution  of  which  involves  the  invention  or  improve- 
ment of  the  tools  or  implements  used. 

(3)  The  Robinson  as  Ethical.  Nothing  is  so  evident  as  the 
fact  that  our  schools  are  not  performing  their  full  social  function  and 
duty  in  the  way  of  moral  training;  in  so  far  as  this  is  a  matter  of 
conscious  instruction  in  the  results  of  different  lines  of  conduct  and 


12  INTRODUCTION 

in  so  far  as  it  is  a  matter  of  giving  opportunity  for  exercise  of  moral 
judgment  in  concrete  cases. 

The  Robinson  aims  to  depict  the  consequence  of  a  certain  typical 
kind  of  juvenile  conduct.  It  finds  Robinson  in  a  loving  home  with 
every  comfort.  His  parents  are  kind  to  indulgence.  Nevertheless 
Robinson  develops  waywardness.  He  becomes  a  truant.  Despite 
all  correction  and  advice,  he  continues  his  wayward  course  of  action. 
He  becomes  idle.  He  cannot  apply  himself  to  serious  affairs.  He 
breaks  off  his  home  ties  and  seeks  freedom  from  parental  restraint 
on  board  ship.  His  subsequent  troubles  are  a  direct  consequence  of 
his  misdeeds  at  home,  the  direct  result  of  idleness,  disobedience  and 
evil  companions.  He  is  thrown  into  a  situation  where  he  must  either 
work  or  starve.  Through  pressure  of  his  needs  Robinson  gradually 
acquires  industrious  habits.  Though  lacking  in  all  kinds  of  skill 
from  having  neglected  his  schooling,  he  gradually  acquires  ability  to 
cope  with  the  most  discouraging  circumstances  with  inferior  tools 
and  implements. 

Having  been  selfish  and  neglectful  of  his  home  and  opportunities 
Robinson  suffers  the  penalty  of  being  deprived  of  the  companionship 
of  his  kind,  and  opportunity  for  satisfying  the  ordinary  ambitions  and 
aspirations.  Hardships,  however,  are  corrective.  They  not  only 
make  him  industrious  but  soften  his  heart  and  fill  him  with  anguish 
and  remorse  for  his  past  wasted  youth.  He  becomes  thoughtful  and 
kind  to  all  living  creatures.  He  knows  now  the  value  of  all  sentient 
comradeship.  Life  to  him  becomes  sacred.  Having  been  deprived 
of  the  fellowship  of  his  kind,  he  feels  the  value  for  himself  of  all 
moving  things,  at  the  same  time  he  instinctively  recognizes  the  in- 
herent right  of  each  thing  to  its  own  life  and  way  of  living.  He  is  the 
friend  and  benefactor  of  animals  and  treats  with  kindness  even 
savages  that  are  entirely  in  his  power. 

After  atoning  for  his  early  sins,  by  becoming  an  industrious, 
thoughtful,  kind,  sympathetic,  useful  man,  he  is  placed  at  last  back 
into  the  comforts  and  values  of  countrymen  and  home.  Thus  the 
story  furnish  us  a  complete  dramatic  cycle.  A  home  and  a  place  in 
society  is  lost  through  idleness  and  regained  through  industry.  The 
story  is  thus  a  typical  ethical  situation.  It  affords  abundant  oppor- 
tunity for  the  exercise  of  the  ethical  judgment  in  concrete  cases. 
Character  is  not  much  affected  by  wise  ethical  saws.  The  moral 
judgment  fashions  habits  of  conduct  only  by  use  in  ethical 
situations. 


INTRODUCTION  13 

With  children  the  need  is  not  so  much  to  learn  precepts  as  to 
actually  make  and  give  ethical  judgment  upon  conduct.  Instruction 
that  consciously  enforces  the  moral  aspect  of  every  action  will  also 
miss  its  end  if  such  aspect  is  forced  and  thrust  to  the  front.  With 
children  the  dramatic  element  occupies  the  center  of  interest.  Other 
aspects  borrow  interest  from  this.  So  that  the  moral  of  a  tale  con- 
sciously and  openly  enforced  is  instructive  energy  misapplied. 

The  ethical  value  of  the  Robinson  is  one  of  its  strongest  appeals 
to  good  teaching.  It  will  fill  a  very  evident  lack  in  our  instruction. 
It  furnishes  an  excellent  ethical  content  and  cannot  fail  to  be  hailed 
with  delight  by  the  judicious  teacher. 

The  suggestive  questions  are  all  fashioned  on  the  plan  of  giving 
opportunity  for  moral  judgment  on  part  of  the  child.  It  is  not  the 
plan  to  consciously  enforce  a  moral.  That  may  well  be  left  to  take 
care  of  itself  as  the  story  proceeds. 


Ill    THE  ROBINSON  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GETTING  LIN- 
GUISTIC AND  EXPRESSIVE  SKILLS 

But  the  content  value  of  the  Robinson  is  but  half  its  worth.  Infor- 
mation as  such  in  school  or  elsewhere,  avails  nothing.  Unless  infor- 
mation works  out  into  skill  it  is  mere  lumber  and  a  waste  of  time. 
Each  particular  content  has  its  skill  side.  Unless  the  teaching  brings 
out  this  skill  through  the  medium  of  the  content,  it  is  poor  teaching,  or 
not  teaching  at  all.  In  telling  a  story  and  leaving  to  chance  whether 
it  is  used  in  obtaining  linguistic  or  other  skills,  teaching  is  losing 
its  most  pregnant  opfxirtunity.  For  with  primary  children  all  skills 
should  come  indirectly,  as  the  expression  of  a  content  suited  to  the 
demands  of  their  stage  of  development. 

The  problems  of  skill  or  technique  may  be  centered  around  the 
discussion  of  the  question!  Should  there  be  formal  exercises  from 
the  first  years  of  school  life  whose  end  is  skill  without  reference 
to  the  purpose,  need  or  interest  that  controls  the  child  in  such  ex- 
ercises? Or  should  skill  wait  upon  and  grow  out  of  activity,  which 
is  the  expression  of  the  pupil's  ovm  present  needs  or  purposes? 

In  all  controversy  over  this  problem  there  is  either  implicit  or 
explicit  recognition  of  two  factors  or  aspects  involved  in  adult  effi- 
ciency. One  is  that  side  or  elficiency  shown  in  the  mere  mechanical 
ability  to  perfonn  acts  skillfully,  such  as  a  skillful  copyist  shows. 


14  INTRODUCTION 

The  other  factor  is  that  side  or  aspect  of  efficiency  which  is  more 
than  skill  in  this  sense,  to  which  attaches  moral  worth,  initiative 
independence,  individuality  —  in  short,  intelligent  will. 

These  two  factors  being  aspects  of  all  efficiency,  must  be  factors 
in  the  educational  process  that  makes  for  efficiency.  Hence  their 
reaction  and  relations  are  of  extreme  interest. 

On  the  psychological  side,  these  two  factors  are  referred  to  when 
we  speak  of  the  idea  to  be  expressed  and  the  expression  of  it.  Dr. 
Dewey  points  out  here  that  we  have  not  here  a  spiritual  and  physical 
factor,  but  the  whole  matter  is  a  relation  between  two  kinds  of  images. 
The  idea  to  be  expressed  is  related  to  the  motor  images  that  express 
it  as  end  to  means.  He  further  says  that  we  have  not  the  idea  and 
its  expression,  but  that  the  expression,  the  technique,  is  a  part  of  the 
full  play  of  the  idea  itself. 

These  two  factors  appear  then  as  phases  of  the  concrete  fact. 
Their  relation  is  vital  or  organic.  They  are  phases  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  volitional  act.  They  are  both  necessary  in  the  growth  of 
efficiency.  The  doing  (habit  skill  or  technique)  reacts  upon  the 
image  (idea  being  expressed)  makes  it  more  definite;  that  is,  reveals 
its  parts  and  relations.  At  the  same  time  this  growth  in  definition 
of  the  images  makes  clear  the  sequence  in  means  of  expression  (motor 
images). 

Now  if  a  separation  is  made  between  these  two  necessary  sides 
of  the  educational  process,  before  the  emergence  in  consciousness 
of  the  value  and  importance  of  skill  as  a  means  of  expression  there 
occurs  a  break  in  the  educational  process  which  has  as  a  result  the 
following  consequences. 

This  separation  between  ideas  to  be  expressed  and  means  of  ex- 
pression (technique)  —  as  in  all  formal  set  exercises  and  drills,  before 
consciousness  of  their  value  and  relation  —  cuts  oflf  interest  from  the 
technique  side  and  leaves  it  without  propulsion.  The  attitude 
toward  it  is  indifference,  repugnance  or  open  rebellion.  The  in- 
terest is  always  in  the  end  as  expression  of  the  self.  The  means  get 
interest  from  this  source.  They  (the  technique)  become  valuable 
only  because  they  express  the  end.  Separated  from  the  end  or  true 
purpose,  such  exercises  have  to  substitute  some  other  external 
motive,  such  as  fear  of  punishment,  rivalry  or  reward.  That  is  they 
become  really  immoral  besides  largely  ineffectual  in  getting  the 
skill.  Skill  in  any  line  with  children  is  to  be  arrived  at  through 
interests  in  content,  that  is  indirectly.    The  more  instruction  in- 


INTRODUCTION  15 

sists  on  skill  for  skill's  sake  the  less  there  will  be  obtained  except  at 
cost  of  the  idea. 

On  the  side  of  the  idea  a  separation  of  the  two,  as  in  formal 
drills,  results  in  mental  stagnation.  The  image  is  cut  off  from 
normal  conditions  of  growth.  There  is  vagueness,  dreaminess,  lack 
of  concentration.  The  real  mental  life  is  not  connected  up  with 
execution. 

The  question  of  technique  is  one  of  the  questions  of  most  frequent 
debate  among  teachers.  The  older  practice  was  dominated  by  the 
dictum  "Form  first  and  content  afterward."  The  more  recent 
aphoristic  pedagogical  imperative  is,  "Learn  to  do  by  doing."  We 
have  in  these  two  dicta  the  whole  controversy  placed  in  sharp  contrast. 
In  the  first  there  is  conscious  separation  of  the  image  and  its 
expression.  The  pupil  must  know  how  before  doing.  He  must 
learn  to  swim  before  getting  into  the  water.  Teaching  is  a  drill, 
method  is  a  mechanism.  The  argument  that  a  child  cannot  do  a 
thing  until  he  knows  how,  seems  irresistible.  It  is  an  open  ad- 
mission to  the  principle,  that  knowing  is  prior  to  the  doing  and  really 
independent  of  it. 

The  second  principle  makes  knowing  dependent  on  doing.  Form 
or  the  how  must  wait  on  the  doing.  The  pupil  must  learn  to  swim 
without  guidance.  The  extreme  of  this  position  looks  askance 
at  all  directed  or  required  work. 

The  problem  reduces  in  its  last  analysis  to  the  question  of  priority 
of  knowing  and  doing.  In  this  abstract  form  the  crux  is  unsolvable. 
Any  presupposition  of  a  division  of  conduct  into  two  abstract  factors 
renders  the  case  hopeless.  It  could  never  be  determined  whether 
knowing  precedes  doing  or  doing  precedes  knowing  because  they  are 
simply  two  aspects  of  one  and  the  same  concrete  whole  of  conduct. 
And  as  such  there  can  be  no  question  of  priority  between  them  as 
already  shovm.  They  are  a  whole  either  for  the  knowing  or  the 
doing.  From  the  psychological  side,  therefore,  they  can  be  no  prefer- 
ence given  to  either  side  of  the  question. 

In  fact  at  the  bottom  for  {pedagogy  the  problem  is  not  a  psychologi- 
cal one  at  all  but  an  ethical  one. 

In  adult  life  the  technique  is  of  such  transcendent  importance 
economically,  as  to  overshadow  the  moral  and  intellectual  aspect  of 
the  matter.  A  livelihood  depends  upon  skill.  This  may  give  it 
such  an  interest  and  importance  as  to  compel  its  pursuit  independent 
of  other  considerations. 


i6  INTRODUCTION 

But  with  children  of  school  age  the  ethical  aspect  of  the  problem 
should  be  prominent.  Learn  to  do  by  doing,  expresses  this  ethical 
import.  It  sees  in  this  procedure,  activity  working  free  from  fixed 
motor  habits  at  an  age  when  such  fixed  habits  would  operate  to  im- 
pede mental  and  physical  growth  and  hence  moral  growth.  It 
contemplates  a  gradual  control  of  muscular  co-ordinations  as  the 
needs  of  child's  living  make  them  urgent. 

Skill  is  like  happiness;  if  aimed  at  directly,  we  miss  it.  To  get 
skill  we  must  emphasize  the  content.  To  get  content  systematized, 
understood,  to  make  it  practical  and  worth  while,  the  technique 
side  must  be  given  opportunity  for  development. 

(i)  Language.  The  greatest  need  of  the  primary  school  to-day 
is  some  positive  content  or  subject-matter  of  instruction.  The 
popular  conception  of  such  a  school  is  that  its  main  function  is  to 
teach  the  young  child  to  read,  write,  and  cipher.  That  is,  that  it 
has  to  do  mainly  with  the  formal  aspects  of  language  and  numbers. 
So  long  as  a  certain  amount  of  facility  is  gained  in  these  formal  arts, 
there  is  little  disposition  to  demand  anything  more. 

When  we  consider  what  the  child  at  the  age  of  six  or  seven  really 
is;  when  we  consider  his  love  of  story,  his  hunger  for  the  concrete 
material  of  knowledge,  his  deep  interest  in  the  widening  of  his  ex- 
perience —  it  is  evident  that  such  a  course  is  out  of  all  harmony  with 
his  real  nature.  It  is  the  giving  of  stones  when  the  cry  is  for  bread. 
It  is  even  worse  than  the  proverbial  making  of  bricks  without  straw. 
It  is  attempting  to  make  bricks  with  straw  alone. 

It  will  be  granted  that  the  mastery  of  a  printed  and  a  written 
vocabulary  is  of  the  utmost  importance.  As  a  subordinate  end,  the 
ability  to  interpret  the  printed  page  and  to  express  thought  in  correct 
form  is  the  most  imperative  demand  upon  the  school.  But  these 
acquirements  are  not  a  content  in  themselves.  They  are  not  the 
material  of  instruction.  In  themselves,  they  do  not  enlarge  the 
understanding  or  furnish  the  food  which  the  young  mind  hungers 
for,  and  must  have,  if  it  is  maintained  in  a  condition  of  health.  They 
are  mere  forms,  and  the  dwelling  upon  them  during  the  impression- 
able years  of  childhood  results  in  a  deadening  of  his  interest  and 
dwarfing  of  his  powers,  so  that  the  over  emphasis  of  this  phase  of 
education  to  the  exclusion  of  content  defeats  it  ovm  ends. 

Laying  the  foundation  for  a  future  character  edifice,  keeping  ac- 
tive the  developing  interests,  the  widening  of  his  experience,  the  for- 
mation of  interpretative  concepts  —  these  are  of  greater  value  from 


INTRODUCTION  17 

the  point  of  view  of  language  mastery,  even  of  its  spoken  and  written 
forms,  than  the  persistent  drill  in  its  formal  elements. 

Language  teaching  must  be  approached  from  the  content  side 
if  we  are  to  get  any  genuine  interest  in  the  overcoming  of  difficulties 
on  the  part  of  the  child.  There  is  no  interest  for  the  child  in  the 
language  forms  themselves  when  presented  in  abstraction  and  em- 
phasized as  such.  He  may  be  drilled  into  proficiency,  but  the  in- 
terest does  not  come  from  the  relation  of  these  formal  elements  to 
his  own  needs  or  activity.  The  interest  has  been  external  and  it 
flags  as  soon  as  the  external  excitement  is  withdrawn.  A  genuine 
interest,  and  intrinsic  one  growing  out  of  his  own  needs  and  nature, 
can  be  fostered  only  by  supplying  a  subject  matter  adapted  to  the 
various  levels  of  thought  through  which  its  development  leads  him. 
If  this  is  furnished,  it  is  no  partial,  intermittent  attention  that  the 
pupil  gives.  While  dealing  with  such  a  content  he  is  not  forming 
the  habit  of  mind-wandering  and  inattention  so  frequently  seen  when 
children  are  kept  closely  to  word  drill  and  to  reading  for  elocutionary 
purposes. 

The  early  forcing  of  technique  is  not  a  real  gain  in  the  child's 
education,  however  much  may  be  apparently  accomplished.  Im- 
mediate results  are  not  a  safe  guide  for  instruction  in  the  primary 
grades.  They  are,  many  times,  a  positive  loss  in  time,  and  are 
gained  at  the  expense  of  dwarfing  the  mental  and  physical  powers. 
There  is  no  real  need  of  forcing  the  process  of  learning  to  read  if  the 
teacher  is  ready  with  a  subject-matter  which  the  child  is  already 
going  out  to  meet. 

What  has  been  said  with  regard  to  the  relation  of  reading  to  a 
content  is  equally  true  with  regard  to  what  is  known  as  language 
teaching.  It  is  a  hopeless  task  to  endeavor  to  give  skill  in  the  use 
of  language  independent  of  a  content  which  is  not  in  accord  with  the 
pupil's  own  stage  of  development.  The  interest  to  be  genuine,  and 
productive  of  self-effort,  must  always  be  in  the  content.  An  en- 
richment of  his  vocabulary,  a  proper  use  of  words,  correct  form  of 
oral  and  written  speech  must  come,  not  for  themselves,  but  as  re- 
sults of  an  effort  to  the  adequate  expression  of  something  which  the 
pupil  is  interested  to  communicate. 

The  widespread  criticism  directed  against  the  results  of  language 
teaching  in  our  schools  no  doubt  has  something  of  justification.  This 
defect  does  not  come  from  lack  of  attention  to  the  matter,  or  from 
indifference  on  the  part  of  the  teachers,  but  largely  from  the  over- 


i8  INTRODUCTION 

emphasis  of  the  purely  formal  aspects  of  language.  The  matter 
is  approached  from  the  wrong  side.  In  early  years,  to  get  form 
we  must  emphasize  content.  In  the  primary  grades,  formal  insist- 
ence on  correct  technique  should  be  at  the  minimum,  while  richness 
and  variety  of  subject-matter  should  be  at  the  maximum. 

(2)  Correlation.  There  cannot  be  much  question  but  that 
the  kind  of  correlating  center  that  the  Robinson  offers  is  the  only 
practical  one.  Such  a  center  or  material  must  or  should  be  one 
about  which  both  manual  and  linguistic  exercises  may  without 
absurd  stretching  be  grouped.  The  content  of  such  a  center  must 
flow  out  naturally  with  the  various  manual  and  linguistic  skills. 
Such  a  center  is  the  Robinson.  Without  violence  to  its  form  or 
content  the  entire  work  of  the  school  may  be  grouped  around  its 
fascinating  story.  It  is  offered  as  material  to  be  used,  not  merely 
be  given  as  something  whose  form  it  is  sacrilege  to  alter.  The  tell- 
ing children  stories  for  the  purpose  of  amusing  or  entertaining  them 
very  easily  degenerates  into  imaginational  dissipation,  and  should 
be  indulged  in  but  rarely. 

Certainly  the  nature  study,  the  social  and  industrial  history  with- 
out which  manual  art  is  just  one  thing  more  to  teach,  finds  in  the 
Robinson  an  easy  and  natural  center.  It  gives  to  the  manual  work 
a  setting  and  connection,  makes  it  understandable,  gives  it  mean- 
ing. In  the  light  which  the  story  and  good  teaching  throws  around 
it  the  hand  work  is  not  just  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  mischievous 
hands  busy.  It  is  not  something  else  to  be  taught.  It  is  given  vital 
connection  in  the  life  of  the  school.  Each  step  in  advance  a  prob- 
lem whose  solution  throws  light  on  what  the  child  sees  going  on 
around  him. 

The  same  may  be  said  for  the  ethical  aspect.  Ethical  teaching 
flows  out  of  the  content  without  any  far  fetched  application.  To 
talk  about  the  conduct  of  the  hero  in  this  light  seems  easy  and  natural. 
To  praise  or  to  blame  seems  the  natural  attitude  to  take.  The  con- 
tent takes  the  ethical  form  as  naturally  as  it  takes  the  social  or  his- 
torical. In  any  case,  there  can  be  no  question  but  that  it  is  a  natural 
content  for  the  centering  of  the  language  arts.  The  same  may  be 
said  for  drawing  and  illustrating. 

These  activities  are  usually  cut  oflF  from  all  setting  that  lends  in- 
terest or  shows  value.  Drawing  is  simply  something  else  to  learn. 
It  is  without  present  meaning.  Es  Schwebt  in  der  Lujt.  It  is  the 
most  difficult  thing  in  the  world  to  get  continuous  and  develop- 


INTRODUCTION 


19 


mental  application  to  it,  just  because  it  is  one  thing  more,  without 
any  vital  relation  to  what  is  already  going  on.  The  Robinson  gives 
it  such  a  setting.  It  borrows  interest  from  the  story.  It  gives  some- 
thing to  jxirtray,  over  which  the  child  lingers  fondly.  His  drawing 
ceases  to  be  abstract  and  just  because  the  teacher  demands  it,  and  be- 
comes another  and  cherished  mode  of  expressing  the  content  of  the 
story.  It  becomes  a  mode  of  expressing  the  content  in  many  respects 
superior  to  language  for  the  child,  because  the  child  life  is  a  series 
of  pictures.  He  has  not  reached  the  level  where  his  thought  gives 
on  in  words  for  the  most  part,  as  with  adults. 

For  the  primary  grades  the  Robinson  furnishes  an  excellent  point 
of  departure  for  hand  work.  As  already  said,  it  places  hand  work 
in  a  setting  of  meaning.  It  is  not  advisable,  perhaps,  to  follow 
slavishly  the  order  or  projects  of  the  texts.  In  any  case  the  ideal 
connection,  tlie  meaning,  is  there,  without  which  the  hand  work 
loses  half  its  value.  Nothing  is  truly  informing  that  does  not  work 
out  in  some  kind  of  skill  or  technique  either  linguistic  or  otherwise, 
and  nothing  Is  really  worth  while  in  skill  that  does  not  analyze, 
systematize,  and  give  form  and  personal  value  to  content. 


IV    SUGGESTIONS 

(i)  The  story  should  be  told,  not  read  to  pupils.  The  teachers 
that  fail  to  do  this  are  not  living  up  to  their  high  privileges.  The 
difference  between  reading  and  telling  it  is  just  the  difference  be- 
tween a  dry  mechanical  performance  and  one  instinct  with  life 
and  expression.  It  is  not  meant  that  the  teacher  should  memorize 
the  words  of  the  text.  She  should  master  the  details  and  depend 
upon  inspiration  for  the  form  in  which  it  is  given. 

This  story  is  divided  into  short  dramatic  units.  It  is  not  meant 
that  they  should  be  taken  as  lessons  and  administered  one  a  day 
until  exhausted.  There  is  abundance  of  material  for  a  year's 
work  or  more.     The  material  is  to  be  used. 

(2)  Oral  Reproduction.  Children  should  never  be  required 
to  repeat  a  portion  on  once  hearing  it.  Many  teachers  read  a  story 
and  then  call  upon  someone  to  give  it  back.  Such  a  method  misses 
the  aim.  With  children  long  drilled  in  reproduction  this  might 
occasionally  be  done.  But  for  the  most  part  great  care  should  be 
exercised  in  familiarizing  the  children  with  details  until  the  slowest 


20  INTRODUCTION 

is  ready  to  say  something.  The  Germans  call  this  process  "deepen- 
ing"—  a  good  word.  This  "deepening"  may  be  done  in  many 
ways.  The  teacher  at  first  may  not  tell  the  story  at  all  consecutively, 
but  develop  it  by  means  of  questions,  adding  parts  not  guessed  out 
by  the  children. 

She  may  tell  it  on  two  or  three  consecutive  days.  She  may  tell 
it  and  then  bring  out  and  enforce  details  by  questioning  for  two  or 
three  days.  She  should  make  each  object  of  interest  mentioned  a 
subject  of  conversation,  explanation,  or  a  peg  on  which  the  chil- 
dren hang  their  experiences. 

But  when  the  deepening  process  has  been  completed  or  thought 
sufficient,  the  children  should  be  then  thrown  upon  their  own  re- 
sources. Each  one  should  tell  the  portion  designated  without  help 
from  suggestions  or  questions. 

The  exercise  should  be  conducted  as  any  other  school  recitation. 
Each  child  should  be  called  upon  as  often  as  possible.  Volunteers 
should  not  be  called  for,  but  each  one  should  be  called  out  as  a  matter 
of  course. 

If  any  distinction  is  made,  it  should  always  be  the  slow  child 
that  is  called  oftener  than  his  more  brilliant  mate.  The  tempta- 
tion is  to  let  the  good  talker  tell  the  story.  This  will  discourage  the 
poorer  talkers. 

When  once  a  child  begins  his  story  he  should  not  be  interrupted 
by  corrections.  Everything  should  be  subordinated  to  spontaneity 
and  easy  flow  of  language  construction.  Anything  making  the 
child  unduly  conscious  of  the  means  of  expression  will  defeat  the 
end.  Many  incorrections  and  speech  defects  will  correct  themselves 
in  time.  After  the  child  has  made  his  attempt  or  said  all  he  can,  or 
has  been  superseded  by  someone  else,  corrections  can  be  made  on 
the  board  or  otherwise. 

(3)  Preparation.  Before  telling  the  new  topic,  preparation 
should  always  be  made  for  it.  This  is  simply  good  teaching.  Be- 
fore the  new  is  given,  the  ideas  necessary  to  assimilate  it,  to  under- 
stand it,  or  give  it  meaning  should  be  in  the  fore  of  consciousness. 
There  should  be  an  active  fringe  of  related  or  similar  ideas. 

The  experience  of  the  children  should  be  gone  over  carefully 
to  find  a  familiar  point  on  which  to  hang  the  new  story. 

Not  only  this,  but  each  important  step  should  always  be  put  as  a 
problem  for  the  children  to  work  out,  either  orally  or  in  written 
fonn. 


INTRODUCTION  21 

Many  teachers  may  object  to  reproduction  exercises  as  not  giving 
scope  for  originality  and  invention.  Abundant  opixjrtunity  may  be 
given  for  original  comix)sition  if  tiic  new  matter  is  first  placed  be- 
fore the  child  in  the  form  of  a  problem  to  be  worked  out. 

Indeed  all  learning  is  the  solution  of  problems.  Skillful  teaching 
will  present  even  history  as  a  series  of  problems.  The  beginning 
of  wisdom  is  the  question.     The  question  always  locates  a  problem. 

But  in  the  form  of  a  problem  the  new  part  or  movement  may  be 
anticipated  by  the  children  either  orally  or  in  writing.  In  this  way 
opportunity  is  afforded  for  originality  and  invention. 

There  is  much  td  commend  this  practice.  In  this  way  the  child 
is  active  according  to  his  present  ability.  He  is  nothing  if  not  im- 
aginative. His  originality  and  invention  should  be  exercised  on 
this  level. 

(4)  Written  Language.  The  written  work  in  connection  with 
the  Robinson  may  consist  of  two  kinds  as  above.  After  the  story 
is  well  started  those  that  have  not  read  the  story  may  anticipate  what 
is  coming.  Or  the  particular  problem  involved  in  the  new  chapter 
may  be  given  for  a  written  solution.  Children  will  show  great 
ingenuity  in  such  work.  And  in  many  ways  this  form  of  written 
work  is  superior  to  reproduction,  although  reproduction  should 
never  be  in  the  words  of  the  story  given  by  the  teacher. 

The  ante-solution,  so  to  speak,  of  Robinson's  problems  in  oral  or 
written  form  should  not,  however,  wholly  displace  written  repro- 
duction of  the  story.  There  will  always  be  pupils  that  find  them- 
selves better  in  this  form  of  language  exercise  than  the  other. 

It  is  always  wise  to  have  each  child  keep  each  part  of  the  story 
anticipated  and  reproduced  and  use  them  for  reading  exercises  so 
that  motive  for  the  written  exercises  may  be  strengthened.  Port- 
folios for  this  purpose  may  be  easily  made.  For  a  number  of  years 
the  following  plan  for  spelling  has  been  found  to  bring  good  results. 
No  formal  spelling  work  in  the  primary  grades  is  required.  At  the 
time  or  period  of  written  work  the  teacher  gives  to  it  her  entire  at- 
tention. When  a  child  wishes  to  use  a  word  he  does  not  know  how 
to  spell  he  asks  the  teacher  for  the  spelling.  Usually  the  teacher 
spells  it  orally,  then  writes  it  on  the  board,  either  erasing  it  quickly, 
or  if  an  unusual  word,  allowing  it  to  remain  for  the  information  of 
others. 

Written  work  in  the  higher  primary  grades  should  take  place  not 
more  than  once  or  twice  a  week  or  after  the  whole  chapter  has  been 


as  INTRODUCTION 

thoroughly  exhausted  in  all  its  other  possibilities.  The  written 
exercise  crowns  the  work,  cements  together  its  various  parts,  gives 
it  form  and  portability. 

The  suggestions  under  the  heads,  "Things  to  Think  and  Talk 
About"  and  "Problems  to  Work  Out,"  are  mere  suggestions. 
They  are  intended  as  examples  of  the  way  the  story  may  be  utilized 
as  a  carrier  or  medium  of  school  activity  —  as  a  center  for  correlat- 
ing the  work  of  the  day.  They  are  not  meant  to  trench  on  the 
legitimate  province  of  the  teacher.  Her  own  working  over,  her  own 
points  of  stress  and  of  view  are  always  best.  Her  high  privilege  it 
is  to  be  thus  self  contained.  It  is  not  a  duty;  it  is  a  privilege.  The 
teacher  that  does  not  rise  to  the  mastery  of  her  subject  matter  to  the 
extent  of  being  able  to  use  it  as  a  sculptor  uses  clay  to  accomplish 
her  educative  purposes  is  not  living  up  to  her  h?gh  privilege  of 
feeling  her  work  a  joy  —  a  high  calling  rather  than  a  business  or 
drudgery. 

(5)  Nature  Study.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  knowledge 
of  the  children  unsupplemented  by  the  teacher  will  be  adequate 
to  illuminate  all  the  nature  study  topics  that  are  suggested.  The 
teacher  must  prepare  himself  to  explain  and  describe  by  pictures, 
drawings,  objects,  visits  to  collections  and  museums.  This  work 
should  show  itself  in  the  drawings  and  illustrations.  The  teacher 
can  test  her  thoroughness  in  getting  the  details  of  objects  and  en- 
vironment into  mental  circulation  by  watching  the  drawings  and 
illustrations  by  the  children.  Robinson  goes  out  from  tolerably 
familiar  surroundings  of  the  temperate  zone  and  in  all  excursions 
that  the  instruction  takes  it  should  go  out  from  this  familiar  environ- 
ment and  come  back  to  it  so  that  instruction  may  always  keep  foot- 
ing within  the  child's  experience.  The  remote  should  be  illumined 
by  the  near  and  familiar.  Patiently  a  fair  idea  of  a  tropical  en- 
vironment and  climate  should  be  built  up  with  considerable  detail 
of  typical  trees,  vines,  insects,  shrubs,  flowers,  animals,  birds,  and 
weather.  In  doing  this  the  usual  province  of  nature  study  vv^ill  of 
course  be  somewhat  transcended  and  the  instruction  will  be  geo- 
graphical in  its  nature  rather.  Indeed,  as  a  preparation  for  formal 
geographical  and  scientific  work  this  side  of  the  story  will  prove  in- 
valuable. 

(6)  The  Industrial  and  Social  History.  The  social  and 
industrial  history  will  probably  be  the  most  diflficult  to  handle.  It 
is  here  that  most  teachers  need  especial  preparation.     But  the 


INTRODUCTION  23 

means  of  becoming  well  infonncd  on  these  points  are  easily  at  hand. 
Frederick  Starr's  "First  Steps  in  Human  Progress,"  in  Joly's 
"Man  Before  Metals" and  "Evolution  in  Art,"  by  C.  Haddon,  will 
be  found  to  contain  all  the  information  needed  along  the  line  of  the 
history  of  invention,  manners  and  customs  of  savage  and  primitive 
peoples.  Children  usually  know  something  about  Indians  and 
Eskimo  life  and  this  should  be  used  as  a  point  of  departure  for  under- 
standing savage  and  primitive  people.  The  extent  to  which  this 
line  of  work  should  be  carried  would  depend  entirely  upon  the  age 
and  ability  of  the  class.  In  third  and  fourth  grades  it  could  be 
made  a  considerable  feature.  In  any  case  its  point  of  departure 
should  be  the  present  and  its  return  to  the  same  point. 

(7)  Ethical  Treatment.  In  the  suggestions  for  ethical  treat- 
ment the  aim  has  been  to  give  opportunity  for  children  to  give  their 
own  judgment  on  alternative  courses  of  conduct.  This  is  far 
different  from  consciously  enforcing  a  moral.  Children  are  very 
quick  to  respond  to  ethical  situations  in  simple  cases.  In  many 
cases,  however,  the  fault  disapproved  or  the  virtue  extolled  can  be 
used  to  emphasize  some  particular  remissness  in  some  members 
of  the  class. 

(8)  Drawing.  The  means  of  expression  called  drawing  falls 
into  three  parts,  as  a  school  discipline.  Object  drawing,  illustrative 
drawing,  and  design.  Illustrative  drawing  or  pictorial  representa- 
tion seems  to  come  first  in  development.  The  drav/ing  of  an  ob- 
ject was  made  not  for  the  purpose  of  making  an  exact  copy,  but  for 
the  purpose  of  using  it  for  the  end  in  view.  So  long  as  the  draw- 
ing answered  this  purpose  that  was  all  that  was  required.  Accuracy 
of  representation  was  never  an  end.  It  is  likewise  with  the  child. 
Accuracy  of  drawing  is  not  the  end  aimed  at,  but  the  delineation  of 
some  event  or  happening.  It  is  a  movement,  not  a  detail,  that  the 
child  is  interested  in  portraying.  For  this  reason  illustrative 
drawing  may  well  serve  as  the  starting  point.  The  teacher  can  get 
accuracy  and  detail  in  the  objects  portrayed  best  by  borrowing 
interest  from  the  larger  whole  in  which  the  child  is  interested. 
When  Robinson  gets  the  dog  from  the  ship  is  the  time  to  make 
dogs  the  special  topic  of  the  formal  drawing  lesson.  When  it  is 
cocoanut  trees  with  which  the  young  artist  wants  to  characterize 
his  tropical  landscape,  that  is  the  time  to  study  to  draw  cocoa  palm 
trees.  The  child's  ability  to  illustrate  truly  and  characteristically 
the  scenes  and  incidents  of  the  story  in  free  or  undirected  occasions 


34  INTRODUCTION 

is  a  good  measure  of  the  success,  not  only  of  the  formal  drawing 
lesson  but  of  the  nature-study  work  as  well. 

Object  drawing  is  for  the  pictorial  or  illustrative  work  and  apart 
from  it  has  little  meaning  or  attraction  for  primary  children.  Points 
of  technique  should  be  taken  up  in  formal  lessons,  as  need  for  them 
is  felt  by  the  learner.  Gradual  progress  should  be  made  toward 
more  and  more  typical  and  characteristic  detail  in  illustrative 
compositions. 

The  merely  aesthetic  is  not  felt  as  a  propulsion  toward  delinea- 
tion at  early  stages.  Figures,  animal  and  human  life,  types  of 
vegetation  should  be  emphasized  rather  than  mere  landscape 
effects.  Both  teachers  and  pupils  show  a  tendency  to  avoid  the 
human  figure  in  the  later  primary  grades. 

A  stereotyped  Robinson  that  does  not  change  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  the  story  should  be  avoided.  The  drawing  of  Robin- 
son should  respond  strictly  to  each  change  of  dress  noted. 


THE  TEACHER'S 

ROBINSON    CRUSOE 

I 

ROBINSON  WITH  HIS  PARENTS 

PREPARATION 

We  are  going  to  hear  the  story  of  a  boy  who  did  not  love  school 
and  wished  to  go  away  on  the  ocean  in  a  ship.  The  story  tells  how 
he  finally  ran  away  from  home  and  was  ship-wrecked  on  an  island, 
where  he  remained  alone  for  many  years.  Where  were  the  ships 
that  you  have  seen?  Did  they  go  to  a  strange  country?  In  what 
country  would  you  find  many  wild  animals  and  black  men?  Do 
you  know  any  boy  that  does  not  go  to  school  ? 

PRESENTATION 

There  once  lived  in  the  city  of  New  York,  a  boy  by  the 
name  of  Robinson  Crusoe.  He  had  a  pleasant  home. 
His  father  and  mother  were  kind  to  him  and  sent  him  to 
school.  They  hoped  that  he  would  study  hard  and  grow 
up  to  be  a  wise  and  useful  man,  but  he  loved  rather  to 
run  idle  about  the  street  than  to  go  to  school.  He  was 
fond  of  playing  along  the  River  Hudson,  for  he  there  saw 
the  great  ships  come  and  go.     They  were  as  big  as  houses. 

25 


a6  THE  TEACHER'S   ROBINSON   CRUSOE 

He  watched  them  load  and  unload  their  cargoes  and  hun- 
dreds of  people  get  off  and  on.  His  father  had  told  him 
that  the  ships  came  from  far  distant  lands,  where  lived 
many  large  animals  and  black  men.  His  father  told  him 
too,  that  in  these  faraway  countries  the  nuts  on  the  trees 
grew  to  be  as  large  as  one's  head  and  that  the  trees  were 
as  high  as  church  steeples. 

When  Robinson  saw  the  ships  put  out  to  sea,  he  would 
watch  them  till  they  would  disappear  below  the  horizon 
far  out  in  the  ocean  and  think,  "Oh,  if  I  could  only  go 
with  them  far  away  to  see  those  strange  countries!" 
Thus  he  would  linger  along  the  great  river  and  wish  he 
might  find  an  opportunity  of  making  a  voyage.  Often 
it  would  be  dark  before  he  would  get  home.  When 
he  came  into  the  house  his  mother  would  meet  him 
and  say  in  a  gentle  voice,  "Why,  Robinson,  how  late  you 
are  in  getting  home!    You  have  been  to  the  river  again." 

Then  Robinson  would  hang  his  head  and  feel  deeply 
ashamed,  and  when  his  father,  who  was  a  merchant, 
came  home  from  the  store,  his  mother  would  tell  him 
that  Robinson  had   again  been  truant. 

This  would  grieve  his  father  deeply  and  he  would  go  to 
the  boy's  bedside  and  talk  earnestly  with  him.  "Why 
do  you  do  so?"  he  would  say.  "How  often  have  I  told 
you  to  go  to  school  every  day?"  This  would  for  a  time 
win  Robinson  back  to  school,  but  by  the  next  week  it  had 
been  forgotten  and  he  would  again  be  loitering  along 
the  river  in  spite  of  his  father's  remonstrances. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


aj 


THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT* 

(a)  Rivers,  the  Hudson,  cities,  New  York,  wharves,  ocean 
vessels,  old  and  modem.  What  nuts  and  what  trees  did  Robin- 
son's father  refer  to? 

(b)  Home  life,  school  life,  different  occupations  one  might  see 
at  the  wharf.  Study  different  kinds  of  ships,  so  that  you  may  draw 
one  well. 

(c)  Did  Robinson  do  right  in  staying  away  from  school  ?  What 
do  you  think  of  Robinson  forgetting  so  soon  his  father's  command? 
How  old  a  boy  do  you  think  him?  Do  you  like  the  wharf?  When 
should  boys  go  to  the  wharf  ? 


PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUTf 


(a)    Picture  Robinson  at  the  wharf  watching  the  ships,  his  home, 


etc. 


KOBINSON  WATCHING   THE  SHIPS 


♦(a)  designates  science;  (b),  social  history,  industry,  etc.;  (c),  ethics. 
t(a)  designates  the  graphic;  (b),  the  plastic  medium  (c),  the  hard. 


II 

ROBINSON  AS  AN  APPRENTICE 

PREPARATION 

Do  you  know  what  an  apprentice  is  ?  How  do  men  earn  money  ? 
How  do  boys  learn  trades?  Do  you  know  anyone  having  a  trade? 
What  trade  would  you  like  to  follow  when  you  grow  up?  How  many 
trades  can  you  name?  Does  one  have  to  learn  store-keeping? 
Everyone  should  learn  to  do  some  useful  thing.  What  trade  do  you 
think  Robinson  best  fitted  for? 

PRESENTATION 

In  this  way  one  year  after  another  slipped  by.  Robin- 
son was  not  more  diligent.  He  was  now  almost  sixteen 
years  old  and  had  not  learned  anything.  Then  came  his 
birthday.  In  the  afternoon  his  father  called  him  into  his 
room.  Robinson  opened  the  door  softly.  There  sat 
his  father  with  a  sad  face.  He  looked  up  and  said,  "Well, 
Robinson,  all  your  schoolmates  have  long  been  busy  try- 
ing to  learn  something,  so  that  they  may  be  able  to  earn 
their  own  living.  Paul  will  be  a  baker,  Robert  a  butcher, 
Martin  is  learning  to  be  a  carpenter,  Herman  a  tailor, 
Otto  a  blacksmith,  Fritz  is  going  to  high  school,  because 
he  is  going  to  be  a  teacher.  Now,  you  are  still  doing 
nothing.  This  will  not  do.  From  this  time  on  I  wish 
you  to  think  of  becoming  a  merchant.  In  the  morning 
28 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  29 

you  will  go  with  mc  to  the  store  and  begin  work.  If  you 
are  attentive  and  skillful,  when  the  time  comes  you  can 
take  up  my  business  and  carry  it  on.  But  if  you  remain 
careless  and  continue  to  idle  about,  no  one  will  ever  want 
you  and  you  must  starve  because  you  will  never  be  able 
to  earn  a  living." 

So  the  next  morning  Robinson  went  to  the  store  and  be- 
gan work.  He  wrapped  up  sugar  and  coffee,  he  weighed 
out  rice  and  beans.  He  sold  meal  and  salt,  and  when  the 
dray  wagon  pulled  up  at  the  store,  loaded  with  new  goods, 
he  sprang  out  quickly  and  helped  to  unload  it.  He 
carried  in  sacks  of  flour  and  chests  of  tea,  and  rolled  in 
barrels  of  coffee  and  molasses.  He  also  worked  some  at 
the  desk.  He  looked  into  the  account  books  and  saw 
in  neat  writing,  "Goods  received"  and  ''Goods  sold." 
He  noticed  how  his  father  wrote  letters  and  reckoned 
up  his  accounts.  He  even  took  his  pen  in  hand  and  put 
the  addresses  on  the  letters  and  packages  as  well  as  he 
could. 

But  soon  he  was  back  in  his  careless  habits.  He  was 
no  longer  attentive  to  business.  He  wrapped  up  salt  in- 
stead of  sugar.  He  put  false  weights  on  the  scales.  He 
gave  some  too  much  and  others  too  little.  His  hands 
were  in  the  business  only,  his  mind  was  far  away  on  the 
ocean  with  the  ships.  When  he  helped  unload  the 
wagons,  he  would  often  let  the  chests  and  casks  drop,  so 
that  they  were  broken  and  their  contents  would  run  out 
on  the  ground.  For  he  was  always  thinking,  "Where 
have  these  casks  come  from  and  how  beautiful  it  must  be 
there!"  And  many  times  packages  came  back  because 
Robinson  had  written  the  name  of  the  place  or  the  county 
wrong.  For  when  he  was  writing  the  address,  he  was 
always  thinking,  "You  will  be  laid  upon  a  wagon  and  will 


30 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


then  go  into  the  ship."  One  day  he  had  to  write  a  letter 
to  a  man  far  over  the  sea.  He  could  stand  it  no  longer. 
His  father  had  gone  out.  He  threw  down  the  pen,  picked 
up  his  hat  and  ran  out  to  the  Hudson  to  see  the  ships, 
and  from  that  time  on  he  spent  more  time  loitering  along 
the  river  than  he  did  in  the  store. 


THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(o)  Sugar,  coffee,  rice,  when  and  how  grown  ?  Trace  them  from 
plantation  to  Robinson's  store.     Tea  —  where  does  it  come  from  ? 

(b)  Industries  and  Trades.  How  each  works  for  each.  Trades 
known  to  children. 

(c)  Why  couldn't  Robinson  go  to  High  school?  Did  he  have 
education  enough  to  make  a  good  business  man  ?  Why  was  he  care- 
less and  forgetful  ?  Could  he  have  made  a  great  merchant  like  his 
father?    Did  Robinson's  parents  love  him? 


BLACKSUIXH 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  31 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  Draw  or  cut  from  paper,  Robinson  in  store,  carpenter  at  his 
work,  blacksmith  shoeing  horses.  Show  each  kind  of  tradesman  at 
work. 

(b)  Model  in  clay  some  of  the  animals  Robinson  wished  to  see. 
Mould  in  sand  harbor  and  surroundings. 


Ill 

ROBINSON'S   DEPARTURE 

PREPARATION 

Do  you  wonder  what  became  of  the  idle,  truant  Robinson  ?  Do 
you  think  he  became  better  and  mended  his  bad  habits  ?  What  is 
likely  to  happen  to  a  boy  such  as  Robinson  ?  Tell  what  you  think  he 
did  and  what  happened  to  him. 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson's  father  soon  noticed  that  his  son  was  no 
longer  attending  to  his  work,  and  one  morning  sent  for 
him  to  come  to  his  ofiEice,  When  Robinson  came  in  his 
father  arose  from  his  chair  and  looked  him  long  and 
earnestly  in  the  face.  Then  he  said,  "I  am  very  sorry, 
Robinson,  that  you  seem  determined  to  continue  your 
evil  ways.  If  you  do  not  do  better  you  will  grow  up  to  be 
a  beggar  or  worse.  Robinson  cast  his  eyes  down  and  said, 
"I  do  not  want  to  be  a  merchant,  I  would  rather  sail  in  a 
ship  around  the  world."  His  father  answered,  "If  you 
do  not  know  anything  you  cannot  be  of  use  on  a  ship,  and 
no  one  will  want  you.  In  a  strange  land  you  cannot  live 
without  working.  If  you  run  away  from  your  parents 
you  will  come  to  be  sorry  for  it."  Robinson  wept,  for 
he  saw  that  his  father  was  right,  and  he  promised  to  obey. 

After  two  or  three  weeks,  Robinson  went  to  his  mother 
and  said,  "Mother,  won't  you  go  to  father  and  tell  him 
32 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  33 

that  if  he  will  only  let  me  take  one  voyage  and  it  proves 
to  be  unpleasant,  I  will  come  back  to  the  store  and  work 
hard?"  But  the  mother  cried.  With  tears  in  her  eyes, 
she  said:  "Robinson,  your  brothers  are  both  dead.  You 
are  the  only  child  left  to  us  and  if  you  go  away,  wc  shall 
be  entirely  alone.  How  easy  it  would  be  to  be  drowned 
in  the  sea,  or  torn  to  pieces  by  wild  animals  away  there 
in  a  foreign  country.  Both  your  father  and  myself  are 
getting  along  in  years  and  who  will  take  care  of  us  when 
we  are  sick?  Do  not  cause  us  the  grief  we  must  suffer 
if  you  go  away  so  far  amid  so  many  dangers.  I  cannot 
bear  to  have  you  speak  of  it  again." 

Robinson  did  not  speak  of  it  again,  but  he  did  not  for- 
get it.  He  was  now  nineteen  years  old.  It  was  one  day 
in  August  that  Robinson  stood  at  the  wharf  looking 
longingly  after  the  departing  ships.  As  he  stood  there, 
someone  touched  him  on  the  shoulder.  It  was  a  ship 
captain's  son.  He  pointed  to  a  long  ship  and  said,  "My 
father  sails  to-day  in  that  ship  for  Africa  and  takes  me 
with  him."  "O,  if  I  could  only  go  with  you!"  cried 
Robinson.  " Do  come  along,"  cried  his  comrade.  "But 
I  have  no  money,"  said  Robinson.  "That  doesn't 
make  any  difference,"  returned  the  captain's  son.  "We 
will  take  you  anyway."  Robinson,  without  thinking  for 
a  moment,  gave  his  friend  his  hand  and  promised  to  go 
with  him. 

So  without  saying  "  Good-bye"  to  his  parents,  Robinson 
went  immediately  on  board  the  ship  with  his  friend.  This 
happened  on  the  loth  of  August. 


34  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


ROBINSON   AND  THE  CAPTAIN'S   SON 


THE  SHIP  IN  THE  HARBOR 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  35 

TmNGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(c)  What  do  you  think  of  Robinson's  conduct?  Did  he  treat  his 
parents  right?  Did  he  consider  the  matter  carefully?  Did  he 
honor  his  father  and  mother?  What  should  he  have  said  to  the 
captain's  son?  What  words  best  describe  his  conduct?  What  are 
the  duties  of  children  to  their  parents?  Talk  of  Obedience  at  home 
and  school.     Broken  promises.     Idleness  and  work. 

(b)     Ship's  captain,  the  sailors,  their  life  and  duties. 


PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(o)     Cut  in  paper  or  draw  in  charcoal  Robinson  as  he  talks  to  his 
mother.     Robinson  and  the  captain's  son.     The  ship  in  the  harbor. 


ROBINSON   AND    Ulb   MOTHER 


IV 

ROBINSON  FAR  FROM  HOME 

ROBINSON'S  VOYAGE 

PREPARATION 

What  happened  on  the  ship  ?  The  children  talk  about  the  manner 
of  his  departure,  of  what  he  could  have  seen  and  heard,  the  farewells, 
the  commands  and  numerous  possibilities  of  the  outcome.  What 
happened  to  Robinson  ?  Where  did  he  go  ?  What  dangers  are  there 
on  the  ocean  ? 

PRESENTATION 

Once  on  board,  Robinson  watched  the  preparations 
for  departure.  At  command  the  sailors  clambered  up 
into  the  rigging  and  loosened  the  sails.  Then  the  cap- 
tain from  his  bridge  called  out,  "Hoist  the  anchor!" 
Then  the  great  iron  hooks  that  held  the  ship  fast  were 
lifted  up,  a  cannon  sounded  a  final  farewell.  Robinson 
stood  on  the  deck.  He  saw  the  great  city  shimmer  in  the 
sunshine  before  him.  Very  fast  now  the  land  was  being 
left  behind.  It  was  not  long  until  all  that  could  be  seen 
of  his  native  city  was  the  tops  of  the  highest  towers.  Then 
all  faded  from  sight.  Behind,  in  front,  right  and  left,  he 
saw  nothing  but  waters. 

He  became  a  little  afraid.  At  noon  there  arose  a  strong 
wind  and  the  ship  rocked  to  and  fro.  He  became  dizzy 
36 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  37 

and  had  to  hold  fast  to  something.  The  masts  and  rigging 
began  to  dance.  It  seemed  to  him  as  if  all  was  turning 
around.  Suddenly  he  fell  full  length  on  the  deck  and  it 
was  impossible  for  him  to  get  up.  He  was  seasick.  He 
wailed  and  cried,  but  no  one  heard  him,  no  one  helped 
him.  Then  he  thought  of  his  home,  his  parents  whom 
he  had  so  ungratefully  left. 

He  had  been  on  the  water  about  two  weeks,  when  one 
day  as  he  lay  in  his  room,  Robinson  heard  people  over  his 
head  running  about  and  crying,  "A  storm  is  coming!" 
The  ship's  sides  trembled  and  creaked.  The  ship  was 
tossed  like  a  nutshell.  Now  it  rolled  to  the  right,  now 
to  the  left.  And  Robinson  was  thrown  from  one  side  to 
the  other.  Every  moment  he  expected  the  ship  to  sink. 
He  turned  pale  and  trembled  with  fear.  "Ah,  if  I  were 
only  at  home  with  my  parents,  safe  on  the  land,"  he  said. 
"If  I  ever  get  safe  out  of  this,  I  will  go  home  as  quickly 
as  I  can  and  stay  with  my  dear  parents!"  The  storm 
raged  the  whole  day  and  the  whole  night.  But  on  the 
next  morning  the  wind  went  down  and  the  sea  was  calm. 
By  evening  the  sky  was  clear  and  Robinson  was  again 
cheerful.  He  ran  about  the  ship.  He  looked  at  the 
glittering  stars  and  was  contented  and  happy. 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(b)  Getting  ship  ready.  Sailors,  rigging,  swelling  of  the  sails, 
cannon  shot,  storms. 

(c)  The  relatives  and  friends  gather  at  the  wharf  to  see  one  of 
their  number  depart.  They  wave  their  handkerchiefs,  etc.  Did 
any  one  come  down  to  see  Robinson  off?  Why?  What  did  Robin- 
son's parents  do  when  he  did  not  come  home  ?  Did  he  know  whether 
he  would  ever  see  his  parents  again  ?  Had  he  entirely  forgotten  his 
love  for  his  parents?    How  did  Robinson's  sickness  affect  him? 


38 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


What  was  the  first  thing  he  thought  of?  He  knew  then  how  good 
his  dear  mother  had  been  when  he  was  sick  at  home.  He  no  doubt 
felt  guilty.  He  felt  he  had  been  ungrateful  and  thoughtless.  He 
promised  himself  to  go  back  as  soon  as  he  could;  but  as  soon  as  danger 
was  over,  how  did  he  feel  ?     Did  his  good  resolutions  last? 


PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  In  water  color,  colored  chalk,  charcoal  or  pencil  represent 
Robinson  talking  to  the  ship  captain's  son.  Study  how  best  to  draw 
a  ship.  Study  the  different  kinds,  and  practice  unril  you  can  draw 
one  well.  Practice  drawing  sailors  in  their  peculiar  clothes.  Can 
you  represent  a  ship  in  a  storm  ? 


THE   SHIPWRECK 

PREPARATION 

What  further  happened  to  Robinson  on  the  ship?  The  children 
tell  what  might  happen  to  Robinson.  May  have  arrived  in  Africa, 
South  America.  Perhaps  he  has  again  thought  of  the  promise. 
Perhaps  strong  wind  has  blown  again.  A  storm?  What  is  that? 
What  can  happen  to  a  ship  when  it  is  driven  by  a  storm  near  a 
rocky  coast?  Is  it  safer  near  or  far  from  land  in  a  storm?  What 
becomes  of  the  people  on  a  ship  that  strikes  a  rock?  Tell  about 
a  wreck  of  Robinson's  ship  and  how  he  was  saved. 


PRESENTATION 

Several  weeks  went  by.  Robinson  haxi  forgotten  his 
resolutions  to  return  home  long  ago.  It  was  very  hot. 
The  glowing  sun  beat  down  upon  the  ship.  The  wide 
surface  of  the  sea  glistened.  No  breeze  stirred.  The 
sails  hung  loose  on  the  top  of  the  mast.  But  far  away 
on  the  shore  could  be  seen  a  black  bank  of  clouds. 

All  at  once  the  ship  was  thrown  violently  to  one  side 
by  a  fierce  gust  of  wind.  Robinson  threw  himself  on  the 
deck.  The  sea  began  to  rise  and  fall.  The  waves  were 
as  high  as  mountains.  Now  the  ship  was  borne  aloft  to  the 
skies,  and  now  it  would  seem  that  it  must  be  over- whelmed 
in  the  sea.  When  it  sank  down  between  the  great  waves 
of  water,  Robinson  thought  it  would  never  again  rise. 

39 


40  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

The  waves  beat  violently  on  the  ship's  side.  Robinson 
went  down  the  steps  into  his  little  room,  but  he  came 
back  full  of  anxiety.  He  believed  every  minute  he  would 
meet  death  in  the  waves.  The  night  at  last  came  on. 
The  lightning  flashed.  The  storm  howled.  The  ship 
trembled.  The  water  roared.  So  the  night  wore  on. 
The  storm  raged  for  six  days.  Then  on  the  seventh  day 
it  was  somewhat  abated.  But  the  hope  was  soon  dashed. 
The  storm  had  abated  but  to  get  new  strength.  Sud- 
denly it  bore  down  with  frightful  power  on  the  doomed 
vessel,  struck  it,  and  shot  it  like  an  arrow  through  the 
water.  Then  Robinson  felt  a  fearful  crash.  The  ship 
groaned  as  if  it  would  fall  into  a  thousand  pieces.  It 
had  struck  a  rock  and  there  held  fast.  At  the  same 
moment  the  sailors  raised  the  cry,  "The  ship  has  sprung 
a  leak!"  The  water  surged  into  the  ship.  All  called 
for  help.  Each  one  thought  only  of  himself.  There 
was  only  one  boat.  The  others  had  all  been  torn  away. 
It  was  soon  let  down  into  the  sea.  All  sprang  in.  For 
a  moment  the  sailors  forgot  the  waves,  but  all  at  once  a 
wave,  mountains  high,  struck  the  boat  and  swallowed  it 
up.  Robinson  shut  his  eyes.  The  water  roared  in  his 
ears.     He  sank  into  the  sea. 


THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Storms  at  sea,  wind,  waves,  thunder,  lightning,  shipwreck, 
strength  of  waves. 

(b)  Life  saving  stations,  lighthouses,  life  boats,  fear,  selfishness 
in  times  of  danger.     Bravery,  ''  Story  of  Grace  Darling. " 

(c)  Obedience  at  home  and  school.  Promises,  keeping  them. 
Bad  companions.  Idleness  and  work.  Had  Robinson  been  obedi- 
ent?   Had  he  kept  his  promise  ?    Did  he  love  good  ? 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

PROBLEMS    TO    WORK    OUT 

(b)     Model  in  clay  or  make  in  wood  a  ship's  anchor. 
(a)     Picture  the  ship  in  the  storm. 


41 


TUE    ANCUOR 


THE  SHIP   IN  THE   STOHU 


VI 

ROBINSON   SAVED 
PREPARATION 


What  has  become  of  Robinson  ?  Perhaps  he  was  drowned  in  the 
sea.  Perhaps  he  was  thrown  up  on  the  land.  Have  you  seen  the 
shore  of  the  ocean  ?  Can  you  tell  in  what  water  the  storm  occurred? 
Near  what  continent?  Or  what  zone?  What  direction  did  the 
ship  sail  ?     Tell  how  Robinson  might  be  saved. 


PRESENTATION 

Robinson  was  borne  down  far,  far  into  the  ocean.  He 
attempted  to  work  himself  up,  so  that  he  could  see  light 
and  breathe  the  air.  But  again  and  again  the  waves 
carried  him  down.  Finally  a  wave  threw  him  up  and 
he  saw,  for  a  moment,  the  light  of  day  and  got  a  breath 
of  air,  but  the  next  instant  he  was  deep  under  the  water. 
Then  another  wave  bore  him  on  its  crest.  He  breathed 
a  deep  breath  and  at  the  same  time  saw  land  not  far  g^ 
away.  He  bent  all  his  strength  toward  reaching  the 
land.  He  got  almost  to  it,  when  a  wave  caught  him  and 
hurled  him  on  a  jutting  rock.  With  all  his  strength  he 
seized  the  rock  with  both  hands  and  held  on.  Presently 
he  worked  himself  up  a  little  and  at  last  got  a  foothold. 
But,  scarcely  had  he  done  so,  when  his  strength  left  him 
and  he  fell  on  the  ground  as  one  dead.  But  he  soon  re- 
42 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  43 

vived.  He  opened  his  eyes  and  looked  around.  Ik- 
saw  above  him  the  blue  sky,  and  under  him  the  solid 
brown  earth  and  before  him  the  gray  angry  sea.  He  felt 
to  see  if  he  still  breathed.  The  storm  had  destroyed  the 
ship.  The  waves  had  overwhelmed  the  boat.  The 
water  wished  to  draw  him  into  the  deep.  The  rocks 
seemed  to  want  to  hurl  him  back,  but  storm  and  wave  and 
rock  had  accomplished  nothing.  There  was  One  who 
was  stronger  than  they. 

Then  Robinson  sank  on  his  knees  and  folded  his 
hands.  Tears  came  to  his  eyes.  He  breathed  hard. 
At  last  he  said,  "  Dear  Father  in  Heaven,  I  live.  Thou 
hast  saved  me.     1  thank  Thee." 


THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Waves,  their  course,  height,  nature  and  power.  Winds, 
their  effects  in  a  storm,  ships'  danger  when  near  shore  in  a  storm. 
Cliffs,  sandy  beach. 

(b)  History  of  Hghthouses.  Some  famous  Hghthouses,  life- 
saving  crews,  their  method  of  work.  Means  taken  to  save  lives  of 
those  on  a  sinking  ship,  etc. 

(c)  Do  you  think  Robinson  deserved  the  trouble  he  fell  into? 
Had  he  thought  before  that  he  might  be  caught  in  a  storm?  How 
could  he  have  saved  this  trouble?  Do  you  think  he  is  punished 
enough  for  his  being  so  ungrateful  and  disobedient  to  his  parents  ? 


VII 

THE    FIRST    NIGHT    ON    LAND 

PREPARATION 

The  waves  had  cast  Robinson  on  land.  What  do  you  think  was 
the  name  of  the  land  ?  Did  he  know  what  land  he  was  on  ?  Did  he 
know  that  all  his  companions  had  perished  ?  What  do  you  think  was 
the  first  thing  he  did  ?  Do  you  suppose  he  thought  about  the  danger 
of  the  wild  animals  ?  Do  you  think  he  was  afraid  ?  How  long  had 
Robinson  been  now  from  home?  What  did  Robinson  most  need 
now  ?     Tell  how  he  passed  the  first  night. 

PRESENTATION 

"Where  are  my  companions?"  That  was  his  first 
thought.  He  began  to  call  and  halloo:  "Where  are 
you?"  "Come  here!"  But  no  one  answered.  Then 
he  wished  to  see  if  anyone  lived  on  the  land,  and  he  cried, 
"Is  there  no  one  here?    Hello!"  but  all  remained  still. 

All  at  once  he  drew  himself  together  and  shrank  back. 
He  heard  a  bush  rustle  and  the  thought  came  like  a  flash, 
"That  is  a  wild  animal  that  will  pounce  upon  me  and 
tear  my  flesh  with  his  teeth  and  claws.  How  shall  I  save 
myself?  Where  shall  I  fly  for  safety?  Where  shall  I 
turn?  I  have  nothing  but  my  clothes  and  my  life  saved 
from  the  water.  All  that  I  had  the  waves  have  swallowed 
up." 

44 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  45 

And  then  hunger  and  thirst  began  to  trouble  him.  He 
had  eaten  nothing  the  whole  day  and  tlie  salt  water  made 
him  sick. 

In  the  meantime  the  night  had  come  on.  Robinson  was 
very  tired.  Everything  was  new  and  strange.  He  did  not 
know  which  way  to  move.     He  was  in  the  greatest  terror. 

He  expected  to  hear  the  roar  of  wild  beasts  from  every 
secluded  spot.  Lions  and  tigers  and  dreadful  serpents 
filled  his  thoughts.  He  must  find  shelter  from  them.  But 
where  should  he  pass  the  night?  Not  a  house,  a  hut  or 
a  cave  was  to  be  seen.  He  stood  a  long  time  hesitating 
and  did  not  know  what  to  do.  Finally  he  thought,  "I 
will  do  as  the  birds  do  and  get  into  a  tree. "  He  very  soon 
found  a  tree  which  had  such  thick  branches  that  it  would 
hold  him  up. 

Robinson  climbed  up  into  the  tree,  made  himself  as 
comfortable  as  possible,  said  his  prayers,  and  as  he  was 
thoroughly  exhausted,  he  soon  fell  asleep.  When  he  awoke 
the  sun  was  high  in  the  sky.  At  first  he  could  not  remem- 
ber where  he  was.  Then  the  truth  burst  upon  him.  He 
tried  to  move.  He  was  stiff  and  sore.  His  flesh  was 
bruised  from  being  thrown  against  the  rocks  and  beaten 
by  the  waves. 

He  was  dreadfully  thirsty.  His  mouth  and  throat  were 
dry  and  parched  from  the  salt  water.  His  tongue  was 
thick  and  swollen.  He  said,  "I  must  find  some  water  to 
drink  or  I  shall  die!" 

It  was  hard  work  to  get  down  from  the  tree.  His  limbs 
and  back  ached  from  sitting  in  the  tree  all  night.  At  last 
he  slipped  down  and  fell  on  the  ground.  He  clasped  his 
hands  in  prayer  and  thanked  God  for  keeping  him  through 
the  night. 


46  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

Then  he  got  up  and  tried  to  walk.  He  was  so  weak  he 
could  not  stand. 

He  threw  himself  down  on  the  ground  and  began  to  sob 
and  cry,  "O  Lord,  do  not  let  me  die!  Do  not  let  me  die!" 
As  he  lay  there  he  heard  a  queer  sound.  He  listened. 
It  sounded  like  water  running  over  rocks.  He  tried  to  get 
to  the  place  from  which  the  sound  came.  He  tried  to  walk. 
When  he  fell  he  crawled  on  his  hands  and  knees.  At  last 
the  sound  was  close  by.  He  dragged  himself  up  on  the 
rocks.  Yes,  there  was  a  spring  of  clear,  cool,  sparkling 
water  bubbling  up  and  trickling  over  the  stones.  Robin- 
son was  so  thirsty  he  put  his  face  into  the  water  and  drank 
and  drank. 

Then  he  sat  down,  and  after  a  while  he  drank  again  and 
again. 

After  Robinson  had  satisfied  his  thirst  and  rested  awhile 
he  felt  much  better.  He  said,  "  I  must  try  to  walk  and  sec 
whether  I  can  find  something  to  eat."  He  found  many 
kinds  of  fruits  and  berries  all  around  him,  but  he  was 
afraid  to  eat  them,  as  they  were  strange  to  him  and  he 
feared  they  might  be  poisonous. 

As  he  was  walking  along,  all  at  once  he  spied  a  tall  plant 
in  the  distance  which  had  a  familiar  look.  It  looked  like 
corn.  He  said  to  himself,  "I  wonder  if  it  can  be  corn." 
At  last  he  came  near  enough  to  recognize  it.  Yes,  it  was 
corn.  It  did  not  look  exactly  like  the  corn  that  he  saw  at 
home,  but  still  he  knew  it  would  be  safe  to  eat  it.  He 
broke  off  an  ear  and  eagerly  ate  the  kernels  raw.  Oh, 
how  good  it  was!  Robinson  could  not  remember  any- 
thing that  tasted  half  so  good. 

He  ate  as  much  as  he  wanted  and  then  filled  his  pockets 
with  cars  of  corn  for  his  supper.  Then  he  went  back  to 
the  spring  to  get  another  drink. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  47 

THINGS    TO    THINK    AND    TALK    ABOUT 

(a)  Springs,  corn  plants  —  kinds,  history,  uses  and  cultivation. 
Uses  of  parts.  (See "Com  Plants.  Their  Uses  and  Ways  of  Life," 
by  Frederick  Leroy  Sargent.) 

(b)  Trees  as  Homes  (see  "The  Tree  Dwellers,"  by  Katherine 
Dopp)  —  homes  of  birds,  animals,  insects.  Different  animals 
using  trees  as  homes.  What  objection  could  Robinson  make  to  a 
tree  as  a  home  ?     Could  he  have  slept  on  the  ground  ? 

(c)  Robinson  is  on  land.  What  did  he  bring  with  him?  Has 
he  now  a  thankful  heart?  He  is  thankful  for  life  alone.  He  is 
thankful,  yet  he  lacks  the  necessities  of  life  even. 

PROBLEMS    TO    WORK    OUT 

(o)  Represent  Robinson  in  his  tree.  Study  the  com  plant  and 
leam  to  draw  it  accurately  in  all  stages  of  growth.  Make  a  design 
for  a  book  cover  or  border,  using  some  part  of  the  plant  as  unit  of 
design. 

(b)  Mould  in  clay  the  corn  ear.  Make  of  paper  strips  the  young 
com  plants  and  plant  a  model  field  in  your  sand  table. 


48  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)     Represent  in  pencil,  crayon  or  water  color,  Robinson  on  deck 
of  ship.     Robinson  praying  on  the  rock. 


ROBINSON    PRAYING    ON   THE   ROCK 


VIII 

ROBINSON  ON  AN  ISLAND 

PREPARATION 

Does  Robinson  yet  know  on  what  land  he  has  been  thrown? 
Whether  on  mainland  or  on  an  island  ?  Does  he  know  whether  it  is 
inhabited  or  not  ?  How  can  he  find  out  ?  Tell  what  Robinson  does 
and  what  he  finds. 

PRESENTATION 

After  his  hunger  and  thirst  were  satisfied,  Robinson 
thought  he  would  try  to  find  another  dweUing  place. 
"My  legs  are  stiff  and  sore  from  sitting  so  uncomfortably 
last  night,  and  there  is  so  much  danger  of  falling,"  he 
said.  "I  will  climb  yonder  hill  and  look  around  and 
see  on  which  side  the  houses  are.  I  will  find  me  a  stick 
to  help  me  on  my  way." 

He  broke  a  stick  from  a  dry  bush  and  climbed  up  the 
steep  sides  of  the  hill.  After  a  half  hour's  climb  he  was 
on  top.  What  a  sight  met  his  eyes!  There  were  no 
houses,  no  huts  to  be  seen,  no  smoke  arose  from  the 
forest,  no  field  could  be  seen.  Nothing  but  trees  and 
bush,  sand  and  rock.  "I  am  then  upon  an  island  alone, 
without  food,  without  shelter,  without  weapons!  What 
will  become  of  me?"  he  cried.  "I  am  a  prisoner.  The 
island  is  my  prison,  the  waves  are  the  guards  which  will 
not  allow  me  to  get  away.    Will  no  ship  ever  come  to  set 

49 


5©  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

me  free?"     He  stretched  his  gaze  out  to  the  sea  till  his 
eyes  ached,  but  he  saw  no  ship. 

Robinson  came  down  and  seated  himself  on  a  stone  and 
considered  what  he  should  do.  It  was  not  yet  noon,  yet 
he  feared  greatly  the  next  night.  "  I  must  find  me  a  better 
bed,"  was  his  first  clear  thought. 


THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  What  is  an  island  ?  Have  you  an  idea  where  the  island  is  on 
which  Robinson  has  been  thrown?  Is  it  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean? 
The  Pacific?  Is  it  in  the  Arctic  zone?  The  temperate  or  the 
hot?  Near  what  mainland  is  it?  (The  island  on  which  Robinson 
is  supposed  to  be  thrown  is  undoubtedly  the  island  called  Tobago 
near  Trinidad,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco  River,  South  America. 
This  island  has  been  very  fully  and  interestingly  described  by  Fred- 
erick H.  Ober  in  his  book,  "  Crusoe's  Island, "  published  by  D,  Apple- 
ton  and  Company).     All  teachers  should  read  this  book. 

(b)  Can  you  imagine  how  one  would  feel  cast  alone  on  a  strange, 
uninhabited  island?  He  is  certainly  in  a  sad  plight.  He  has  lost 
everything  at  once,  home,  friends,  comforts.  He  is  like  an  animal. 
He  has  lost  his  civilized  ways  of  living. 

(c)  What  is  it  to  be  a  prisoner?  Did  Robinson  deserve  punish- 
ment of  this  kind?  Do  you  suppose  he  now  regretted  his  leaving 
home? 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 
PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 


5» 


(a)    Draw  the  scene  you  imagine  Robinson  saw  from  tlic  top  of 
the  hill. 
ib)     Mould  in  sand  the  hill  and  island  with  rocks  and  spring. 


IX 
ROBINSON'S   SHELTER 

PREPARATION 

What  now  do  you  suppose  Robinson  will  do?  He  can  certainly 
not  remain  long  in  his  tree?  Will  he  build  a  shelter?  Tell  the 
diflferent  kinds  of  shelter  he  might  provide  himself.  Did  you  ever 
read  about  the  Tree  Dwellers?  What  natural  shelters  are  there 
besides  trees  ?  Tell  what  Robinson  did  to  provide  himself  a  shelter 
without  tools. 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson  saw  at  a  little  distance  what  seemed  to  be  a 
cleft  or  an  opening  in  a  huge  rock.  "If  I  could  only  get 
inside  and  find  room  to  stay  over  night.  The  rock 
would  protect  me  from  rain,  from  the  wind  and  wild 
animals  better  than  a  tree." 

He  long  sought  in  vain  for  a  place  wide  enough  to  allow 
him  to  get  into  the  opening  in  the  rock.  He  was  about 
to  give  up,  when  he  seized  hold  of  a  branch  of  a  thorn 
tree  growing  on  the  side  of  the  rock.  He  looked  closer 
and  saw  that  it  grew  out  of  the  cleft  in  the  rock.  He  saw, 
too,  that  at  this  point  the  opening  was  wider  and  that  he 
had  only  to  remove  the  tree  in  order  to  get  in.  "The  hole 
shall  be  my  dwelling,"  he  said.  "I  must  get  the  thorn 
tree  out  so  that  I  can  have  room." 

That  was  easily  said.  He  had  neither  axe,  nor  saw,  nor 
52 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  53 

knife  nor  spade.  How  could  he  do  it?  He  had  nothing 
but  his  hands.  He  tried  to  pull  it  out  by  the  roots,  but  in 
vain.  He  wasn't  strong  enough.  "I  must  dig  it  out," 
said  Robinson.  He  scratched  with  his  nails,  but  the 
earth  was  too  hard.  What  should  he  do?  He  sought  a 
stick  with  a  fork  in  it  and  dug  in  the  earth,  but  it  was  slow 
work.  Then  he  found  a  clam-shell.  He  did  better  with 
it,  but  it  was  hard  work,  and  Robinson  was  not  used  to  hard 
work.  The  sweat  ran  down  his  face  and  he  had  often  to 
stop  and  rest  in  the  shade.  The  sun  burned  so  hot  and 
the  rock  so  reflected  the  heat  that  he  was  all  but  over- 
come. But  he  worked  on.  When  evening  came,  he 
would  sleep  in  the  tree  and  next  morning  he  would  go  at 
it  again.     On  the  third  day  the  roots  were  all  laid  bare. 

But  the  roots  were  fast  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock  and  he 
could  not  loosen  it,  try  ever  so  hard.  What  would  he  not 
have  given  for  an  axe,  or  at  least  a  knife.  And  yet  he  had 
never  thought  of  their  value  when  at  home.  He  attempted 
to  cut  one  root  through  with  his  clam-shell,  but  the  shell 
crumbled  and  would  not  cut  the  hard  wood.  He  stood 
for  a  long  time  thinking,  not  knowing  what  next  to  do. 
He  made  up  his  mind  that  he  must  have  something  harder 
than  the  shell  to  cut  with.  Then  he  tried  a  stone  with  a 
sharp  edge  and  soon  found  he  needed  another  one,  how- 
ever. He  found  one.  Then  he  set  the  sharp  one  on  the 
wood  and  struck  it  with  the  heavy  one.  In  this  way  he 
slowly  cut  the  roots  in  two.  On  the  fifth  day  there  was 
yet  left  one  big  root,  bigger  than  any  of  the  others.  Rob- 
inson got  up  early  in  the  morning.  He  worked  the  whole 
day.  Finally  it  gave  a  crack  and  it  too  was  broken. 
Robinson  had  only  now  to  remove  the  loose  earth  inside 
the  cleft.  He  found  the  opening  could  be  made  large 
and  roomy.     It  was  choked  up  with  dirt.    He  dug  out 


54  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

enough  to  allow  him  room  enough  lo  make  a  place  to  lie 
down.  "In  the  future,"  he  thought,  "I  will  take  out  all 
the  dirt  and  then  I  shall  be  comfortable." 

It  was  then  dark  and  the  moon  shone  bright  in  the 
Heavens.  Robinson  gathered  a  heap  of  dry  grass  and 
made  himself  a  safe  bed.  But  as  he  lay  there  he  saw  the 
moonbeams  shining  into  his  cave.  He  sprang  up.  "How 
easy,"  he  thought,  "for  wild  animals  to  creep  in  hereupon 
me."  He  crawled  out  and  looked  around.  Not  far  from 
the  cave  he  saw  a  large  flat  stone.  With  great  trouble  he 
rolled  it  to  the  opening  of  his  cave,  but  before  this  the 
morning  began  to  dawn.  He  went  inside  the  shelter, 
seized  the  stone  with  both  hands  and  rolled  it  into  the 
opening  till  it  almost  closed  it.  "I  have  now  a  closed  home. 
I  can  again  stretch  my  legs.  Wind  and  rain  cannot  get 
at  me,  nor  wild  animals," 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  What  kind  of  shelters  or  homes  do  the  various  animals  have? 
What  animals  build  homes?  What  have  no  shelter?  What  build 
or  have  shelter  in  trees?  In  the  ground?  How  do  birds  build? 
How  do  other  animals  make  shelters?  Does  any  animal  use  a  tool 
in  building? 

(b)  Why  was  not  Robinson's  tree  shelter  satisfactory?  Did  he 
suffer  from  cold  ?  Were  there  any  animals  that  might  disturb  him  ? 
Was  it  comfortable  ?  What  other  uses  has  a  dwelling  besides  afford- 
ing protection  to  our  bodies?  It  also  protects  our  property  and 
serves  as  a  store  house  for  goods.  Do  savage  people  store  up  food  ? 
Do  animals?    Where  do  animals  store  food?     Birds?     Squirrels? 

Why  did  not  Robinson  construct  a  shelter  of  logs?  Would 
not  this  have  been  better  suited  to  his  needs  ?  What  simple  cutting 
tool  would  have  enabled  him  to  do  this?  It  is  easier  to  move  earth 
than  to  cut  the  tough  fibers  of  wood. 

Caves  are  natural  shelters  for  men  and  animals.  Men  — 
early  or  primitive  men  —  used  to  live  in  caves.    This  was  before  men 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON]  CRUSOE 


55 


had  tools  with  which  they  could  build  in  wood.  Many  things  men 
used  when  they  lived  in  waves  are  now  found  there. 

As  with  Robinson,  early  man's  first  tools  were  of  stone.  Why 
did  men  use  stone  instead  of  metals  ?  Do  stones  furnish  a  good  cut- 
ting edge?  What  kinds  of  stones  or  rocks  afford  the  best  cutting 
edge?  How  many  different  kinds  of  stone  tools  have  you  seen? 
Many  such  tools  may  be  seen  at  museums.  Many  such  tools,  some 
of  them  brightly  polished,  are  found  all  over  the  world.  Men  first 
made  cutting  tools  of  stone. 

(c)  Robinson  sees  he  is  on  an  island  and  is  again  discouraged. 
"What  will  become  of  me?"  Why  did  he  say  that?  Because  he 
was  afraid.  Because  he  must  remain  alone.  Was  he  brave  and 
manly?  Had  he  reason  to  be  thankful?  He  had  been  saved  from 
the  wreck.  He  had  found  water,  food  and  shelter.  But  he  quailed 
before  each  new  danger.  Did  Robinson  now  think  back  and  re- 
member how  many  comforts  he  had  at  home?  Are  we  thankful  for 
the  many  comforts  we  have? 

Robinson  at  last  has  to  work  and  work  hard.  Did  he  like 
to  work  at  home  ?     Every  one  should  do  some  kind  of  work. 


PROBLEMS     TO 
WORK  OUT 

(a)  Study  a  thorn  tree 
and  practice  drawing  it. 
Represent  Robinson  a  t 
work  to  remove  the  tree 
from  the  cleft  or  opening 
in  the  rock. 

(c)  Study  different 
kinds  of  rock  in  order  to 
find  one  best  suited  for 
use,  as  to  material  out 
of  which  to  make  tools. 
Find  out  how  early  men 
made  arrows  and  knives 
of  stone.  How  they  made 
hammers.  How  were  they 
fastened  to  handles? 


SOME  OF  Robinson's  tools 


X 

ROBINSON  MAKES  A  HAT 

PREPARATION 

Have  you  thought  about  Robinson's  clothes?  Just  what  articles 
of  clothing  did  he  save  from  the  wreck?  Did  he  need  clothing  to 
keep  him  warm?  Why  do  men  need  clothing  in  hot  or  tropical 
countries  ?  They  need  it  to  protect  the  body  from  the  hot  rays  of 
the  sun.  Do  you  suppose  Robinson  saved  his  hat?  Did  he  need 
one  ?  How  can  he  supply  himself  with  one  ?  Out  of  what  materials 
and  in  what  manner  can  he  make  one?  Describe  a  hat  that  you 
suppose  he  made  and  tell  exactly  how  he  made  it. 

PRESENTATION 

Refreshed  and  with  renewed  strength,  Robinson  awoke 
late  the  next  morning,  but  he  had  a  bad  headache.  The 
day  before  the  hot  tropic  sun  had  beat  down  on  his  bare 
head,  as  he  worked  at  his  cave.  He  was  so  busy  that  he 
forgot  to  go  into  the  shade  from  time  to  time  in  order  to 
shield  himself  from  the  scorching  sunshine.  He  felt  a 
new  need.  "I  must  make  me  a  hat,"  said  Robinson  to 
himself.  "But  how?"  He  had  no  straw,  no  thread 
and  no  needle.  He  looked  around  for  a  long  time,  but 
found  nothing.  The  sun  mounted  even  higher  in  the 
heavens,  and  shone  hotter  and  hotter.  He  went  to  seek 
shelter  at  last  in  the  deep  shade  of  a  nearby  tall  plant. 
As  he  stood  there  he  examined  the  plant  more  carefully. 
56 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  57 

"Out  of  these  leaves,"  he  said,  "I  might  make  a  hat." 
He  climbed  up  the  short  stem  of  the  plant  and  saw  that 
it  had  not  only  leaves  as  long  as  himself,  but  between  the 
leaves  were  big  bunches  of  long,  thin  fruit,  as  thick  as 
three  fingers  and  similar  in  shape  to  a  cucumber. 

He  plucked  the  leaves  and  fruit  and  was  about  to  eat 
some  of  the  fruit  when  he  heard  near  him  a  light  stir  as  of 
some  animal.  He  rolled  the  leaves  and  fruit  together 
and  hastened  back  to  the  cave. 

The  bananas,  for  that  is  what  the  fruit  proved  to  be, 
were  sweet  and  refreshing.  After  he  had  eaten  enough 
he  set  immediately  about  making  his  hat.  He  broke  off 
a  couple  of  reeds.  He  bent  one  into  a  hoop.  But  the 
hoop  would  not  hold  without  thread.  Sometimes  it  was 
too  large  and  sometimes  too  small.  But  it  must  fit  his 
head.  He  pulled  up  grass  and  bound  its  ends  together, 
but  the  grass  stalks  were  not  strong  enough.  He  hunted 
until  he  found  a  tree  whose  inner  bark  was  soft  and  came 
out  in  long  fibers.  He  bound  his  reed  with  this.  This, 
too,  made  the  hoop  soft  so  that  it  did  not  hurt  his  head. 

When  the  hoop  was  ready  and  fitted  to  his  head  he 
found  the  banana  leaves  could  not  be  used.  Their  veins 
ran  straight  out  from  the  midrib.  This  made  them 
easily  torn,  and  besides,  they  were  too  large.  They  were 
not  the  best  shape.  He  saw  that  leaves  about  a  foot  long 
with  broad  and  tapering  points  would  be  best.  He  saw 
too,  that  if  the  leaves  had  their  veins  running  parallel 
with  the  midrib  they  would  be  strongest.  He  made 
search  and  at  length  found  leaves  that  seemed  made 
for  his  purpose.  They  were  thick  and  leathery  and 
tapered  from  base  to  apex  like  a  triangle. 

He  now  proceeded  with  his  hat-making.  He  would  take 
a  leaf  and  lay  it  on  the  ground  with  the  base  toward  him. 


5ft  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

Then  he  laid  the  hoop  on  the  base  of  the  leaf,  wrapped 
it  around  the  hoop  and  fastened  it  with  thorns.  He 
did  the  same  with  the  other  leaves.  The  thorns  were  his 
pins.  At  last  he  pinned  the  tips  of  the  leaves  together 
at  the  top  and  the  hat  was  ready.  It  looked  just  like  a 
big  cone,  but  it  kept  out  the  heat  of  the  sun. 

Robinson  now  had  corn  and  bananas  and  when  he 
was  thirsty  he  drank  a  handful  of  water  from  the  spring. 
He  had  been  now  nine  days  on  the  island.  Every  day 
he  looked  out  on  the  sea  until  his  eyes  ached  to  see  if  he 
might  discover  a  ship. 

He  could  not  understand  why  no  ship  came  his  way. 
"Who  knows  how  long  I  must  wait  here?"  said  he  sorrow- 
fully. Then  the  thought  came  to  him:  "You  will  not 
be  able  to  keep  track  of  the  days  unless  you  write  it  down." 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Why  do  the  sun's  rays  appear  hotter  in  tropical  countries 
than  elsewhere?  Have  you  seen  a  banana  plant  growing?  De- 
scribe its  leaves?  What  material  do  we  use  to  make  hats? 
Men's?     Women's?     What  plants  are  used  for  reeds? 

(b)  Do  savage  or  uncivilized  men  wear  hats  ?  Think  of  Indians, 
Africans,  Eskimos?  What  materials  if  any  do  these  people  wear 
in  the  manufacture  of  head  coverings?  What  tools  do  they  need 
or  use?  Do  you  know  how  hats  are  now  made?  Straw  hats? 
Silk  hats?  Hats  of  felt?  What  things  are  used  to  decorate  hats? 
Did  Robinson  think  of  decorating  his  hat?  Why  not?  Are  flowers 
or  birds  the  better  decorations?  Was  not  Robinson's  hat  an  ex- 
ceedingly clumsy  affair?  Could  he  not  have  done  better  even 
without  tools  had  he  learned  to  work  at  home  with  his  hands? 
Suppose  he  had  learned  to  weave  baskets  in  the  schools,  could  he 
not  have  woven  a  more  suitable  and  serviceable  hat  out  of  long 
grasses  or  plant  stems  and  branches? 

(b)  Where  do  the  bananas  you  buy  come  from  ?  Roinson  was 
indeed  fortunate  in  finding  this  fruit.  He  now  had  com  and 
fruit  for  food?    Does  the  banana  grow  wild  in  tropical  America,  or 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


59 


had  it  been  brought  to  Robinstm's  island  by  man?     Where  is  the 
native  home  of  the  banana?     Of  com? 

(c)  Did  Robinson  learn  to  work  at  home?  Did  he  do  well 
in  his  father's  store  ?  Is  it  right  not  to  learn  how  to  work  ?  Every 
one  should  know  how  to  work,  how  to  do  and  make  things.  Robin- 
son now  has  to  work.  Did  you  feel  sorry  for  him  working  so  hard 
making  his  shelter  and  hat?  He  will  be  a  better  and  more  useful 
man  for  learning  how  to  make  things  and  provide  for  his  own  wants. 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  Draw  Robinson  in  such  clothing  as  he  had  left  after  the 
shipwreck. 

Study  from  nature  or  pictures  and  descriptions  to  draw  a 
banana  plant  accurately. 

Represent  Robinson  standing  beneath  the  banana  plant,  with 
his  rock  and  shelter  in  the  background. 

Make  drawing  of  Robinson's  hat  and  with  Robinson's 
weaving  it. 

(c)  Construct  Robinson's  hat  from  drawings  in  paper,  using 
reeds  for  the  head  band. 


KOBIMSON'S  BAT 


BANANA   TREE 


XI 
ROBINSON'S   CALENDAR 

PREPARATION 

How  do  we  keep  track  of  the  day,  month,  and  year?  We  count 
them  off  on  a  printed  calendar.  How  is  Robinson  to  keep  track 
of  time  with  no  ink  or  pen  or  pencil  ?  Do  you  think  Robinson  would 
want  to  know  the  day  of  the  week  and  month  ?  Why  ?  How  can 
Robinson  know  the  time  of  day  ?  Would  the  time  of  the  day  be  as 
useful  to  him  as  the  day  of  the  week  and  month  ?  Describe  the 
calddar  you  think  Robinson  could  make  without  paper  or  pens. 

PRESENTATION 

The  matter  of  keeping  track  of  time  puzzled  Robinson 
very  much.  It  was  getting  more  difficult  every  day  to 
keep  it  in  his  memory.  He  must  write  down  the  days  as 
they  slip  by,  but  where  and  how  ?  He  had  neither  pen,  ink, 
nor  paper.  Should  he  mark  every  day  with  a  colored 
stone  on  the  smooth  side  of  the  huge  rock  wall  within 
whose  clefts  he  had  dug  out  his  cave?  But  the  rain 
would  wash  off  the  record  and  then  he  would  lose  all  his 
bearings.  Then  he  thought  of  the  beach,  but  there 
the  wind  and  waves  would  soon  also  erase  it. 

He  thought  a  long  time.     "I  must  find  something,"  he 

said  to  himself  on  which  to  keep  a  record.     "I  must 

also  know  when  Sunday  is.     I  must  rest  one  day  in  the 

week.     Yes,  I  must  find  something,"  he  said,  "on  which 

60 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  6i 

to  write."  And  finally  he  found  it.  He  chose  two  trees 
standing  near  each  other  and  then  sought  for  a  small 
sharp  stone,  which  he  could  make  still  sharper  by  striking 
it  on  another.  When  he  had  got  this  pen  ready  he  cut 
into  the  bark  of  one  tree. 

Shipwreck^  Sunday.,  loth  oj  September,  1875. 

He  made  seven  cuts  in  a  row  for  the  seven  days  in  the 
week.  The  first  cut  was  longer  than  the  others.  This 
was  to  represent  the  Sunday.  At  sundown  every  day  he 
made  a  new  cut  in  the  bark. 

The  other  tree  he  called  the  month  tree.  On  its  stem 
he  was  to  cut  a  mark  every  time  his  week  tree  told  him  a 
month  had  passed.  But  he  must  be  careful,  for  the 
months  were  not  of  equal  length.  But  he  remembered 
that  his  teacher  had  once  said  in  school  that  the  months 
could  be  counted  on  the  knuckles  and  hollows  of  the 
hand,  in  such  a  way  that  the  long  and  short  months  could 
be  found  easily  and  he  could  tell  in  this  way  the  number 
of  days  in  each. 

Robinson  worked  at  enlarging  his  shelter  a  little  every 
day.  He  was  sorely  at  loss  to  find  something  in  which 
to  carry  the  dirt  away  from  the  entrance,  or  enough  so 
that  it  would  not  choke  up  the  opening.  A  large  clam 
shell  was  all  he  could  think  of  at  present.  He  would 
carry  the  dirt  to  the  entrance  and  some  distance  away,  and 
then  throw  it.  Fortunately  the  ground  sloped  awdy 
rapidly,  so  that  he  needed  a  kind  of  platform  before  his 
door. 

He  was  careful  to  open  the  cleft  at  some  distance  above 
the  large  opening.  For  the  air  was  damp  and  impure 
in  the  shelter.     But  with  the  opening  made  high  above, 


62  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

fresh  air  was  constantly  passing  into,  and  impure  air  out 
of,  his  cave.     Light,  too,  was  admitted  in  this  way. 


THINGS   TO    TALK   AND    THINK    ABOUT 

(a)  In  connection  with  measuring  and  reckoning  time  the  ro- 
tation and  revolution  of  the  earth,  sunrise  and  set.  The  length 
of  the  day. 

What  kind  of  trees  do  you  think  Robinson  would  be  likely 
to  find  on  his  island? 

Were  there  changes  of  seasons  on  Robinson's  island  ?  Winter 
and  summer.  Would  one  be  more  likely  to  lose  track  of  time  in  a 
country  where  there  was  not  marked  seasonal  changes? 

The  sun  dial  is  an  instrument  used  to  show  the  time  of  day. 
Have  you  seen  one  ?  It  will  tell  the  hour  of  the  day  when  the  sun 
shines  only.  We  use  a  machine  called  a  clock  or  watch  for  telling 
time  of  day.     Can  you  tell  time  of  day  from  the  clock  ? 

(b)  From  what  event  do  we  reckon  time?  What  does  A.  D.  mean? 
Name  the  months  of  the  year.  Does  each  have  the  same  number 
of  days?  Which  is  the  shortest?  It  was  lucky  for  Robinson  that 
he  remembered  a  rule  for  telling  the  long  and  short  months.  Do 
you  know  the  one  beginning: 

Thirty  days  hath  September, 
April,  June  and  November? 

(b)  What  other  machines  are  used  for  measuring  time?  The 
Greeks  used  a  water  clock.     Have  you  seen  an  hour-glass? 

What  fixes  the  length  of  the  month?  The  Indians  reckoned 
time  in  moons.  Our  word  month  comes  from  an  old  word  meaning 
moon.     How  do  uncivilized  people  keep  track  of  time? 

Why  did  Robinson  wish  to  keep  a  record  of  the  time?  Do 
you  think  his  scheme  a  good  one ?    Do  you  think  of  any  better  way? 

Was  Robinson  wise  in  providing  for  fresh  air  in  his  cave? 
What  sickness  comes  from  impure  air?  Do  you  always  have  fresh 
air  in  your  sleeping  rooms? 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 
PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 


63 


(a)  Make  a  drawing  of  the  kind  of  tree  you  think  Robinson  used 
as  calendars. 

Represent  Robinson  at  work  at  his  calendar.  Show  as  many 
different  kinds  of  plants  and  trees  as  you  know  grew  on  the  island. 

(c)  Construct  in  paper  or  cardboard  clock  face  and  mark  thereon 
the  hours.     Make  a  sun  dial  or  shadow  stick. 


ROBINSON  S    CALENDAR 


XII 
ROBINSON   MAKES  A  HUNTING   BAG 

PREPARATION 

Will  not  Robinson  grow  tired  of  com  and  bananas?  Will  he  not 
need  to  store  food?  Will  he  not  wish  for  meat?  Will  he  not  hunt 
for  animals  fit  for  food?  What  animals  will  he  find?  How  will 
he  bring  food  from  a  distance?  He  will  need  something  in  which 
to  carry  it.  Tell  how  you  would  provide  a  vesse'  for  this  purpose. 
How  did  Robinson  meet  this  need  ? 

PRESENTATION 

Several  days  passed  with  Robinson's  hat-making  and 
his  calendar- making  and  his  watching  the  sea.  Every 
day  his  corn  and  bananas  become  more  distasteful  to  him. 
And  he  planned  a  longer  journey  about  the  island  to  see 
if  something  new  to  eat  could  be  found. 

But  he  considered  that  if  he  went  a  distance  from  his 
cave  and  found  something  it  would  really  be  of  little  use 
to  him.  "I  could  eat  my  fill,"  he  said,  "but  that  is  all. 
And  by  the  time  I  get  back  to  my  cave  I  will  again  be 
hungry.  I  must  find  something  in  which  I  can  gather 
and  carry  food."     He  found  nothing. 

"The  people  in  New  York,"  he  said,  "have  baskets, 
or  pockets,  or  bags  made  of  coarse  cloth.  Of  them  all, 
I  could  most  easily  make  the  net,  perhaps,  of  vines.  But 
64 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  65 

the  little  things  would  fall  out  of  the  net.  I  will  see 
whether  I  can  make  a  net  of  small  meshes." 

But  he  soon  saw  that  the  vines  did  not  give  a  smooth 
surface.  He  thought  for  a  long  while.  In  his  garden  at 
home  his  father  had  sometimes  bound  up  the  young  trees 
with  the  soft  inner  bark  of  others.  He  wondered  if  he 
could  use  this.  He  stripped  away  the  outer  bark  from 
the  tree,  which  before  had  yielded  him  a  fiber  for  his  hat, 
and  pulled  off  the  long,  smooth  pieces  of  the  inner  bark. 
He  twisted  them  together.  Then  he  thought  how  he 
could  w^eave  the  strands  together.  He  looked  at  his 
shirt.  A  piece  was  torn  off  and  unravelled.  He  could 
see  the  threads  go  up  and  down.  He  saw  that  some 
threads  go  from  left  to  right  (woof),  others  lengthwise 
(the  warp). 

From  his  study  of  the  woven  cloth,  Robinson  saw  he 
must  have  a  firmer  thread  than  the  strips  of  bark  gave 
alone.  He  separated  his  bark  into  long,  thin  strips. 
These  he  twisted  into  strands  or  yarn  by  rolling  it  between 
his  hands,  or  on  a  smooth  surface.  As  he  twisted  it  he 
wound  it  on  a  stick.  It  was  slow,  hard  work.  Of  all 
his  work,  the  making  of  yarn  or  thread  gave  him  the  most 
trouble.  He  learned  to  twist  it  by  knotting  the  thread 
around  the  spindle  or  bobbin  on  which  he  wound  it  and 
twirling  this  in  the  air.  He  remembered  sadly  the  old 
spinning  wheel  he  had  seen  at  his  grandmother's  house. 

His  next  care  was  something  to  hold  the  threads  while 
he  wove  them  in  and  out.     He  had  never  seen  a  loom. 

After  long  study  Robinson  set  two  posts  in  the  ground 
and  these  he  bound  with  seventy-two  strands  horizontally 
under  each  other.  Then  he  tied  in  the  top  at  the  left 
another  thread  and  wove  it  in  and  out  through  the  seventy- 
two  threads.    So  he  tied  seventy-two  vertical  strands  and 


66  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

wove  them  in  and  out.  Thus  he  had  a  net  three  times 
as  long  as  his  foot  and  as  wide  as  long.  He  tied  the  four 
corners  together.  He  made  a  woven  handle  for  it  and 
put  it  on  his  shoulder  like  a  sack,  saying  gleefully, 
"This  shall  be  my  hunting  bag." 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Do  you  know  any  tree  with  a  tough  inner  bark?  What 
plants  furnish  a  fibrous  inner  bark?  Do  you  know  the  flax  plant 
or  hemp?  Name  plants  giving  us  fiber  for  making  cloth?  What 
part  of  the  plant  is  cotton  fiber? 

(b)  What  do  Indians  use  in  making  baskets  ?  Have  you  woven 
baskets?  Was  Robinson  skillful  in  his  work?  He  did  not  learn 
to  weave  and  make  baskets  in  school.  How  is  flax  prepared  for 
weaving?  Describe  spinning.  Would  Robinson  have  to  spin  his 
strands? 

Can  you  think  of  a  better  loom  than  Robinson  made?  It 
was  a  very  simple  loom.  Have  you  seen  the  great  looms  used 
in  factories  for  weaving  cloth?  Have  you  used  looms  in  school? 
Name  as  many  kinds  of  cloth  as  you  can.  What  part  did  the  spin- 
ning wheel  play  in  making  cloth?  How  do  you  suppose  Robinson 
obtained  the  posts  and  set  them  in  the  ground  ? 


ROBINSON   WEAVING    A  BASKET 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 
PROBLEMS    TO    WORK    OUT 


67 


(a)  Picture  Robinson  at  work  wcnving  the  stuff  for  his  hunting 
bag  or  basket. 

(6)  Can  you  make  a  loom  that  would  weave  as  large  a  piece  as 
did  Robinson's? 

(c)  Weave  out  of  raffia  a  mat  of  the  dimensions  of  Robinson's 
and  fasten  it  as  you  think  Robinson  did. 


KUBI.\SC>f»'a    LOOM   .'^Nb   MAI 


XIII 
ROBINSON   EXPLORES  THE  ISLAND 

PREPARATION 

Does  Robinson  yet  know  all  about  his  island?  Will  he  not 
want  to  explore  it?  He  may  not  find  inhabitants?  Will  he  not 
wish  to  find  other  kinds  of  food?  Now  that  he  has  his  bag  he 
can  bring  fruit  and  all  kinds  of  food  from  a  distance.  What  kinds 
of  fruits  and  nuts  will  Robinson  be  likely  to  find  on  his  island? 
Tell  how  Robinson  explored  the  island  and  what  he  found. 

PRESENTATION 

After  Robinson  made  his  hunting  bag  he  was  anxious 
to  set  off  on  his  journey  of  exploring  the  island.  So  he 
arose  very  early  next  morning.  "Before  it  is  hot,"  thought 
he,  "I  will  be  quite  a  distance  on  my  journey."  He  ate 
a  couple  of  bananas,  scooped  up  a  few  handfuls  of  water 
from  the  spring,  stuck  a  few  ears  of  corn  in  his  hunting 
bag,  took  his  stick  in  his  hand  and  went  forth.  As  he 
left  his  cave  the  thought  struck  him.  "What  if  I  could 
not  find  my  cave  again?  How  can  I  manage  so  that  I 
can  come  back  to  it  ?  I  will  go  away  in  one  direction  and 
return  the  same  way;  but  suppose  I  were  to  lose  the 
way?" 

Then  he  noticed  his  shadow  pointing  like  a  great  finger 
from  the  sea  toward  the  land.  He  could  direct  himself 
by  that.  He  kept  his  shadow  in  front  of  him.  He  had 
68 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  69 

noticed,  too,  that  the  wind  always  blew  north  of  the  point 
where  the  sun  rose.  This  helped  him.  But  sometimes 
the  wind  died  down. 

He  had  to  climb  over  many  rocks  and  pierce  many 
thickets.  At  each  step  he  saw  a  rich  growth  of  plants, 
stems,  leaves,  flowers,  but  nothing  to  eat,  no  fruits,  or 
nuts.  At  length  he  came  to  a  tree  as  high  as  a  small 
church  steeple.  Then  he  thought  of  what  his  father  had 
once  said  about  the  trees  in  strange  countries.  "Many 
are  as  tall  as  a  church  steeple  and  the  nuts  are  as  big  as 
one's  head."  He  looked  again.  Yes,  there  they  hung 
among  the  leaves,  concealed  high  above  in  the  crown! 
But  so  high,  it  was  well  that  Robinson  had  learned  to 
climb  while  on  board  the  ship.  He  quickly  laid  down 
his  hunting  bag  and  clambered  up  the  smooth  stem  of 
the  high  tree,  a  palm.  He  picked  off  a  nut  and  threw  it 
down  and  then  several  more,  and  climbed  down  again. 

But  the  nuts  were  very  hard.  How  should  he  open 
them  ?  He  had  brought  along  his  sharp  stone  with  which 
he  had  stripped  off  the  inner  bark.  With  this  he  forced 
off  the  thick  outer  shell.  But  now  came  the  hard  nut 
within,  and  how  hard  it  was!     Striking  it  was  of  no  use. 

Then  he  threw  a  great  stone  on  the  nut.  The  shell 
was  crushed  and  a  snow-white  kernel  lay  before  him. 
It  tasted  like  almond.  With  astonishment  Robinson  saw 
in  the  middle  of  the  nut  a  large  empty  space  which  must 
have  been  filled  with  fluid  as  the  inside  was  wet.  He 
wished  that  he  had  the  juice  to  drink  for  he  was  very 
thirsty.  With  this  in  view  he  examined  another  and 
riper  nut,  and  the  outside  came  off  more  easily.  But  how 
could  he  break  it  and  at  the  same  time  save  the  juice. 
He  studied  the  hull  of  the  cocoanut,  on  all  sides.  At  the 
ends  were  three  little  hollows.    He  attempted  first  to  bore 


70  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

in  with  his  fingers,  but  he  could  not.  "Hold!"  he  cried. 
"Maybe  I  can  cut  them  there  with  the  point  of  my  stone 
knife."  This  was  done  without  trouble  and  out  of  the 
hole  flowed  the  sweet,  white  juice. 

Robinson  put  a  couple  of  nuts  in  his  hunting  bag,  and 
also  the  shells  from  the  broken  nuts.  "Now,"  he  thought, 
"I  shall  no  longer  have  to  drink  from  my  hand."  With 
this  thought  he  went  on  his  way. 

As  Robinson  came  to  a  rock  in  his  path,  out  jumped 
what  Robinson  took  to  be  a  hare.  He  ran  after  him  to 
catch  him,  but  the  hare  was  much  the  swifter.  So 
Robinson  hastened  home,  but  before  he  reached  it  the 
stars  were  shining  with  their  lustrous  light.  Tired 
Robinson  stretched  his  limbs  on  his  bed  of  grass  and 
leaves  and  slept  soundly. 


THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(c)  On  which  side  of  the  island  was  Robinson,  the  east  or 
west?  What  direction  did  he  travel  away  from  home?  Ex- 
plain how  his  shadow  would  finally  bring  him  back  home.  How 
could  he  tell  when  it  was  noon  by  his  shadow? 

Name  if  you  can  some  of  the  plants  and  trees  Robinson 
saw.     (See  Crusoe's  Island.) 

Tell  about  the  cocoanut  palm.  What  purpose  does  the 
outer  corky  husk  serve?  How  do  monkeys  break  them? 
When  do  the  nuts  grow  on  the  trees?  What  is  the  purpose  or 
use  of  the  three  soft  places  at  the  cocoanut's  end  ? 

(6)  How  do  men  find  their  way  through  forests?  How  on  the 
sea?  Have  you  seen  a  compass?  Its  needle  always  points  to  the 
magnetic  pole  of  the  North.  Tell  about  a  magnet.  The  magnetic 
North  Pole  is  near  the  North  Pole.  Could  Columbus  have  dis- 
covered America  without  a  compass?  The  great  explorers. 
Stories  of  "Geographical  Discovery"  by  Joseph  Jacobs. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


n 


PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

{a)  Study  from  pictures  the  form  and  leaves  of  the  cocoanut 
palm  and  represent  an  island  landscape  with  hill,  rock,  cocoanut 
palms,  and  banana  plants. 

(c)  Construct  a  compass  by  running  a  magnetized  needle 
through  a  cork  and  placing  it  in  water. 


COCOANUT    PALM    TREE 


XIV 
ROBINSON  AS  A  HUNTER 

PREPARATION 

Will  not  Robinson  remember  the  hare  or  rabbit?  Will  he  not 
be  hungry  for  meat?  We  do  not  like  to  live  entirely  on  fruits 
and  cereals.  How  can  Robinson  manage  to  catch  a  rabbit?  He 
has  no  weapon.  Tell  how  you  would  catch  one,  the  first  time  you 
tried. 

PRESENTATION 

All  the  time  Robinson  was  confined  to  the  cave  he  kept 
thinking  about  the  rabbit  he  had  seen  and  how  he  might 
catch  one.  Finally,  he  determined  to  make  a  spear. 
He  broke  down  a  thin,  young  sapling,  stripped  off  its 
branches  and  in  one  end  fastened  a  sharp  stone.  He 
then  went  to  bed,  for  he  wanted  to  be  up  early  for  his  first 
hunting  trip  on  the  morrow. 

With  a  large  umbrella  he  had  made,  his  hunting  sack, 
and  spear,  Robinson  crept  lightly  through  the  under- 
brush. But  he  did  not  go  far  before  he  saw  a  lot  of 
rabbits  feeding  peacefully  on  the  soft  leaves  and  grass. 
He  drew  back  and  threw  his  spear  with  all  his  might. 
But  the  spear  did  not  reach  the  rabbits.  It  fell  far 
short  and  the  rabbits  sprang  up  and  ran  quickly  away. 
He  tried  it  several  times  with  the  same  result.  Then 
Robinson,  discouraged,  turned  back  home  and  ate  his 
com,  bananas,  and  cocoanuts  without  meat.  In  the 
72 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  73 

meantime  he  found  a  new  kind  of  food.  He  discovered  a 
nest  of  eggs.     How  good  they  tasted  to  him! 

But  his  longing  for  meat  was  still  very  great.  "I  will 
try  to  make  a  bow  and  arrow,"  he  said.  No  sooner  said 
than  done.  He  bent  a  long  piece  of  tough,  young  wood 
and  stretched  between  the  ends  a  cord  twisted  out  of  the 
fiber  taken  from  the  cocoanut  shell.  He  then  sought  for 
a  piece  of  wood  for  arrows.  He  split  the  ends  with  his 
flint  knife  and  fastened  in  splinters  of  stone.  At  the  other 
end  he  fastened  on  some  feathers  found  on  the  ground. 
The  arrows  flew  through  the  air  with  great  swiftness. 
"They  will  go  far  enough,"  thought  Robinson,  "  if  I  could 
only  hit  anything." 

He  practised  shooting.  He  stuck  his  stone  knife  in  a 
tree  and  shot  at  it  the  whole  day  long.  At  first  he  could 
not  hit  it  at  all.  The  arrows  flew  far  from  the  mark.  After 
a  while  he  could  hit  the  tree,  but  not  the  knife.  Then  as 
he  practised,  his  arm  grew  ever  surer  until  at  last  he  could 
hit  the  knife  at  almost  every  attempt.  After  a  few  days 
he  again  went  rabbit  hunting.  He  thought  that  the  rabbit 
did  not  offer  a  mark  so  high  as  his  knife,  so  he  stuck  a 
stone  in  the  ground  and  practised  shooting  at  that.  He 
gradually  increased  the  distance  until  he  could  hit  the 
mark  at  twenty  or  thirty  yards. 

The  next  morning  Robinson  took  his  bow  and  arrows 
and  went  out  to  hunt.  He  aimed  at  a  rabbit,  shot,  and 
it  fell,  pierced  by  the  arrow.  His  very  first  shot  was 
successful. 

He  hastened  up  and  took  the  dead  rabbit  on  his  shoulder, 
carried  it  to  his  cave  and  skinned  it.  Then  he  cut  off  a 
nice,  large  piece  of  meat  and  was  going  to  roast  it,  but 
alas,  he  had  no  fire! 


74  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

THINGS   TO   THINK  AND   TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Hares  are  not  the  same  as  rabbits.  What  Robinson  saw 
were  probably  agouti.  The  rabbit  isa  burrowing  animal  and  lives 
in  Europe.     We  call  our  hares  rabbits. 

(b)  When  men  first  began  to  hunt  they  probably  hunted  with 
spears  and  javelins.  These  were  thrown  at  the  animal.  It  was  a  great 
task  for  primitive  man  to  make  a  shaft  and  set  a  stone  shaped 
with  a  sharp  point  in  it.  When  thus  thrown  they  were  liable  to  be 
lost.  Spears  were  afterwards  made  with  loose  shafts  so  that  they 
might  be  recovered.  Finally  when  barbed  heads  were  used  these 
were  tied  to  the  shaft  with  a  string.  (See  the  "Later  Cave  Men," 
by  Katherine  Dopp.) 

Robinson  has  to  invent  and  make  things  just  as  savage  men 
did.  Why  was  not  Robinson  successful  with  his  spear?  Tell 
what  he  would  have  to  do  in  order  to  become  successful. 

What  weapon  did  the  Indians  use?  Is  the  bow  and  arrow 
a  better  weapon  than  the  spear?  Tell  in  what  way  it  is  better. 
Do  you  suppose  the  Indians  were  skillful  at  first  with  the  bow 
and  arrow?  Did  the  boys  have  to  practice?  What  kinds  of 
wood  are  best  for  bows ?  For  arrows?  There  is  a  shrub  growing 
in  the  parks  called  arrow  wood.  Have  you  seen  the  stone  arrow 
heads  made  and  used  by  the  Indians?  How  were  they  made? 
They  were  flaked  out.  Small  bits  of  stone  were  clipped  out  of 
the  pieces  from  which  the  head  was  to  be  fashioned  by  pressure, 
until  the  required  form  was  obtained.  Robinson's  work  on  the 
shafts,  heads,  bow  and  arrow  was  no  doubt  very  clumsy  and 
awkward.  He  was  not  skillful.  He  did  not  know  how  to  work. 
He  had  not  learned  when  at  home.  Primitive  men  were  very 
skillful.  They  made  beautifully  shaped  and  polished  spear  heads. 
Many  such  are  now  found  in  caves.     ("Man  before  Metals, "  Joly.) 

(c)  Did  Robinson  do  right  in  killing  the  rabbit?  How  should 
we  treat  animals?  For  what  purposes  is  it  right  to  take  their 
lives. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 
PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 


75 


Study 


(a)     Picture  Robinson  as  he  started  on  his  first  hunt, 
carefully  his  clothes  and  belongings. 

(c)     Try  to  make  a  better  spear  and  a  better  bow  and  arrow 
than  Robinson  did. 


BOW    AND  QIJIVEK   OF  ABJtOWS 


XV 

ROBINSON'S  SHOES  AND  PARASOL 

PREPARATION 

How  about  the  covering  of  Robinson's  feet.  Had  he  shoes? 
Will  not  his  feet  become  sore  from  walking  through  thick  tangles 
of  plants  and  over  rough  ground?  Was  Robinson  used  to  going 
barefoot?  What  will  he  do?  How  he  can  get  covering  and  pro- 
tection for  his  feet  ?  The  sun,  too,  is  it  not  hot  on  his  island  ?  Can 
he  make  further  protection  from  its  great  heat?  Should  not 
Robinson  have  some  way  to  tell  the  time  of  day?  Can  you 
think  of  a  way  Robinson  may  make  covering  for  his  feet? 

PRESENTATION 

The  next  morning  Robinson  could  not  get  up.  His 
feet  were  swollen  and  sore  in  consequence  of  walking 
without  shoes  over  thorns  and  stones.  He  must  remain 
the  whole  day  in  his  cave. 

Before  him,  in  the  sun,  his  walking  stick  stuck  in  the 
ground.  He  thought  how  he  had  been  troubled  yesterday 
to  find  his  way  and  about  the  shadow.  He  had  now  time  to 
study  it.  He  watched  it  the  whole  day  through.  In  the 
morning  it  pointed  toward  the  land.  In  the  evening 
toward  the  sea.  This  comes  from  the  daily  movement  of 
the  sun.  He  determined  to  study  the  matter  more  care- 
fully. 

Robinson  got  up  and  with  great  effort  walked  to  the 
76 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  77 

spring.  There  he  cooled  his  burning  feet,  and  gathered 
some  large  leaves,  which  he  bound  on  them.  He  de- 
cided to  remain  in  his  cave  a  few  days,  for  he  had  enough 
food  stored  up  to  last  him  some  length  of  time.  He 
planned  how  he  might  make  himself  a  pair  of  shoes.  As 
soon  as  his  feet  were  well,  he  sought  out  some  thick  bark 
and  put  fastenings  of  tough,  strong  fiber  on  it.  These 
served  very  well  to  protect  his  feet. 

But  he  must  have  some  further  protection  from  the 
sun.  It  beamed  so  hot  that  his  hat  was  not  enough.  He 
made  a  parasol  out  of  leaves  like  his  hat.  He  took  a 
stick  and  bound  the  stems  of  the  long  leaves  at  one  end 
and  let  their  ends  hang  down.  Then  he  took  reeds  and 
bent  them  into  a  large  circle.  On  the  beach  he  found 
skeletons  of  fish  and  used  the  needle-like  bones  to  fasten 
the  leaves  together.  He  then  tied  six  thick  ribs  to  the 
hoop  and  the  end  of  the  stick. 

THINGS   TO   THINK  AND   TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Was  not  Robinson  mistaken  about  the  shadow  pointing 
toward  the  cave  at  noon?  Can  you  think  how  the  time  of  day 
might  be  told  on  a  clear  day  by  the  fact  Robinson  noticed  ?  Would 
the  shadow  of  the  stick  make  a  complete  circle  or  only  a  semicircle. 
What  is  the  name  applied  to  this  kind  of  clock  ?  Is  the  sun  really 
hotter  in  tropical  countries? 

(b)  Do  uncivilized  people  tell  the  time  of  day?  A  clock  is  a 
machine  for  telling  or  measuring  time?  Besides  clocks  run  by 
machinery  there  are  water  clocks,  shadow  clocks,  and  hour  glasses. 
Hours,  minutes  and  seconds  are  parts  of  the  time  it  takes  the  earth 
to  turn  around  once  or  make  a  rotation. 

(c)  What  do  you  think  of  Robinson's  shoes?  Can  you  think  of  a 
better  way  to  protect  his  feet  or  of  more  suitable  material  ?  Of 
what  materials  are  shoes  made  —  in  Holland?  China?  By  the 
Indians?  Was  it  not  because  Robinson  had  not  learned  to  work 
that  he  made  such  clumsy  things  ?     Would  people  not  have  laughed 


78  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

at  him  had  he  been  seen  with  his  clumsy  hat,  shoes,  and  parasol  ? 
Would  he  not  have  been  ashamed  ? 

(d)  Robinson  must  have  presented  a  sorry  figure  with  his 
tattered  clothes  —  his  awkward  hat,  his  clumsy  shoes  and  para- 
sol. Even  primitive  men  were  better  clothed.  The  dress  of 
Indians  compared  to  that  of  Robinson.  Decorative  and  pro- 
tective. 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  Study  to  draw  Robinson  in  his  clothes,  cap,  shoes,  and 
with  his  parasol,  true  to  description  and  in  proportion. 

(c)  Construct  a  shadow  stick  and  sun  dial  with  scale  for  telling 
hours. 

"Shoemaking  song." 


XVI 
GETTING  FIRE 

PREPARATION 

Will  not  Robinson  try  to  get  fire  in  order  to  cook  his  game? 
How  can  he  do  it?  How  do  men  get  fire  without  matches? 
Robinson  will  have  to  invent  a  way  to  get  fire  if  he  has  roasted 
rabbit.    Maybe  he  will  not  succeed.    How  would  you  go  about  it? 


PRESENTATION 

Now  Robinson  had  heard  that  savages  take  two  dry 
pieces  of  wood  and  rub  them  so  long  on  each  other  that 
they  at  length  begin  to  bum. 

He  tried  it.  The  sweat  ran  down  his  cheeks,  but  every 
time  the  wood  was  about  to  catch  fire  his  strength  would 
give  out,  and  he  was  obliged  to  rest,  and  when  he  began 
again  the  wood  was  cold.  "How  will  it  be  in  winter," 
he  cried,  "when  it  is  cold,  and  I  have  no  fire ?"  He  must 
try  other  ways  of  preparing  meat  for  his  table.  He  must 
think  of  some  other  way  of  getting  fire.  He  remembered 
that  once,  when  a  boy  at  home,  he  had  in  playing  with  a 
stick  made  it  hot  by  twirling  it  on  end  on  a  piece  of  wood. 
"I  will  try  this,"  he  thought.  He  searched  for  a  good 
hard  stick  and  a  piece  of  wood  upon  which  to  turn  or  twirl 
it  with  his  hands.  Having  found  the  best  materials  at 
hand,  he  began  to  twirl  the  stick.    He  made  a  little  hollow 

79 


8o  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

in  the  block  of  wood  in  which  to  turn  his  upright  stick. 
There  was  heat  but  no  fire.  He  twirled  and  twirled,  but 
he  could  not  get  the  wood  hot  enough  to  blaze  up  or 
ignite.  He  had  not  skill.  Besides  his  hands  were  not 
used  to  such  rough  treatment.  Soon  they  blistered  and 
this  method  had  to  be  given  up.  "I  must  have  fire," 
he  still  thought,  and  recalled  the  sparks  that  flew  from 
the  stone  pavements  of  the  streets  when  the  iron  shoes  of 
the  horses  struck  them  as  they  slipped  and  strained  at  their 
cruel  loads.  Why  may  I  not  get  fire  by  striking  together 
two  stones?  He  sought  out  two  hard  stones  and  with 
great  diligence  kept  striking  them  together  until  his 
strength  gave  out,  and  he  was  obliged  again  to  acknowl- 
edge failure. 

He  remembered  that  sometimes  travelers  put  the  meat 
underneath  the  saddle  and  ride  on  it  until  it  is  soft.  He 
tried  it  with  pounding.  He  laid  some  of  the  meat  on  a 
flat  stone  and  pounded  it.  It  became  quite  soft  and 
tasted  very  well.  He  then  tried  hanging  it  in  the  sun 
and  finally  wrapped  it  in  leaves  and  buried  it  for  a  few 
hours  in  the  hot  sand. 


THINGS    TO   THINK    AND   TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  If  Robinson  had  gone  to  school  would  he  have  worried 
about  the  coming  of  winter?     Are  there  winters  in  the  tropics? 

(b)  Did  you  ever  think  that  someone  at  some  time  must  have 
discovered  fire  or  the  way  to  produce  and  keep  it?  (Man  has 
not  always  had  fire.  It  was  a  great  step  forward  when  the  first 
man  learned  how  to  produce  it  at  will.  He  placed  at  once  between 
him  and  the  animals  an  insurmountable  distance.  Fire  gives 
control  over  climates  and  refractory  metals,  increases  man's 
power  incalculably.) 

Cannot  fire  be  produced  by  friction  or  rubbing,  as  Robinson 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  8i 

tried  to  produce  it?  Why  did  he  fail?  Was  it  owing  to  lack  of 
skill  or  poor  and  imperfect  materials?  Why  did  he  fail  by  twirl- 
ing the  stick?  Can  fire  be  produced  by  striking  two  stones  to- 
gether? Does  it  not  need  a  stone  and  steel  or  iron?  Two  flint 
stones  when  struck  may  produce  a  spark.  Iron  pyrites,  a  very  com- 
mon stone,  will,  with  flint,  readily  give  a  spark.  How  when  this 
method  is  used  is  the  spark  made  to  ignite?  What  is  used  for 
this  purpose?  Dried  moss,  punk,  rotten  wood,  thoroughly  dry, 
some  kinds  of  fungus.  Had  Robinson  produced  a  spark  in  this 
way  could  he  have  succeeded  in  igniting  wood  without  punk 
or  some  receptive  material  ?  Why  did  Robinson  fail  to  get  a 
spark? 

How  do  we  produce  fire?  Have  men  long  had  matches? 
What  is  a  match?  Getting  fire  by  rubbing  or  twirling  is  called 
producing  it  by  friction,  by  striking  iron  or  steel  or  stones  together, 
percussion.  In  using  matches  are  we  obtaining  fire  by  friction 
or  percussion?  Tell  the  different  parts  of  a  match.  Which 
part  ignites?  Why  does  it  ignite?  See  Chapter  I  "Starr's 
First  Steps  in  Human  Progress." 


PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(c)     Represent  Robinson  trying  to  produce  fire  by  friction  ? 
(c)     Get  proper  material  and  try  to   produce   fire  in  the  ways 
that  Robinson  attempted  to  produce  it. 


XVII 

ROBINSON    MAKES    SOME    FURNITURE 

PREPARATION 

We  have  furniture  in  our  houses.  We  make  ourselves  com- 
fortable. We  have  chairs,  tables,  and  beds.  We  have  not  yet 
learned  how  Robinson  managed  to  live  in  his  cave  —  what  furni- 
ture he  had.  How  might  he  have  made  a  chair?  A  bed ?  A  table ? 
Out  of  what  materials  ? 

PRESENTATION 

One  thing  troubled  Robinson  ver}'  much.  He  could 
not  sit  comfortably  while  eating.  He  had  neither  chair 
nor  table.  He  wished  to  make  them,  but  that  was  a  big 
job.  He  had  no  saw,  no  hammer,  no  auger  and  no  nails. 
Robinson  could  therefore  make  no  table  of  wood. 

Not  far  from  his  cave  he  had  seen  a  smooth,  flat  stone. 
"Ay,"  thought  he,  "perhaps  I  can  make  me  a  table  out 
of  stone."  He  picked  out  the  best  stone  and  built  up 
four  columns  as  high  as  a  table  and  on  these  he  laid  his 
large,  flat  stone.  It  looked  like  a  table,  sure  enough,  but 
there  were  rough  places  and  hollows  in  it.  He  wanted 
it  smooth.  He  took  clay  and  filled  up  the  holes  and 
smoothed  it  off.  When  the  clay  dried,  the  surface  was 
smooth  and  hard.  Robinson  covered  it  with  leaves  and 
decked  it  with  flowers  till  it  was  quite  beautiful. 
82 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  83 

When  the  table  was  done,  Robinson  began  on  a  chair. 
He  made  it  also  of  stone.  It  had  no  back.  It  looked 
like  a  bench.  It  was  uncomfortable  to  sit  on.  Robin- 
son covered  it  with  moss.     Then  it  was  an  easy  seat. 

Table  and  chair  were  now  ready.  Robinson  could 
not  move  them  from  one  corner  to  another,  nor  when  he 
sat  on  the  chair  could  he  put  his  feet  under  the  table, 
and  yet  he  thought  them  excellent  pieces  of  furniture. 

Every  day  Robinson  went  hunting  and  shot  a  rabbit, 
but  the  meat  would  not  keep.  At  home  they  would  have 
put  it  in  the  cellar.  If  only  he  had  a  cellar!  He  saw 
near  his  cave  a  hole  in  the  rock.  He  dug  it  out  a  little 
with  his  mussel  shell  and  found  that  it  led  back  under 
a  rock. 

From  much  bending  over  in  digging,  Robinson's  back, 
unused  to  severe  toil,  ached  wretchedly.  He  decided 
to  make  a  spade.  With  his  flint  he  bored  four  holes  in 
a  great,  round  mussel  shell.  They  formed  a  rectangle  as 
long  as  a  little  finger  and  as  wide.  Through  these  holes 
he  drew  cocoanut  fiber  and  bound  the  shell  to  a  handle 
fast  and  strong. 

With  his  spade  he  dug  a  hole  so  deep  that  he  could 
stand  in  it  upright.  Then  he  put  in  a  couple  of  shelves 
made  of  flat  stones.  In  this  cellar  he  put  his  hare  meat  and 
his  eggs.  Then  he  laid  branches  over  it  and  finally 
covered  the  whole  with  leaves. 


84  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(c)  Out  of  the  lazy  good-for-nothing  boy  you  see  a  sober  in- 
dustrious man  has  been  made.  How  has  this  happened?  Was  it 
then  necessary  for  him  to  be  diligent  and  active?  Here  no  one 
would  see  him,  and  no  one  would  shame  him.  He  could  live  as  he 
chose.  But  Robinson  had  learned  that  diligence  gives  food  and  that 
idleness  brings  to  want  and  that  he  by  his  lazy,  shiftless  ways  of 
living  could  get  nothing  to  eat  or  nothing  to  wear,  or  no  place  to  live. 
Robinson  had  learned  a  great  lesson.  He  now  worked  continuously, 
never  stopping  from  morning  till  night.  He  had  made  himself 
a  parasol,  a  hat,  some  shoes,  a  knife,  a  net,  a  cave,  a  cellar,  bow  and 
arrows,  a  chair,  and  table.  He  now  knew  the  satisfaction  that 
comes  to  one  who  well  uses  his  time. 


XVIII 
ROBINSON    BECOMES   A   SHEPHERD 

PREPARATION 

What  is  the  business  of  a  shepherd  ?  Have  you  seen  a  shepherd 
dog?  Do  sheep  Hve  in  cold  or  warm  countries?  Would  you  ex- 
pect to  find  sheep  in  Robinson's  Island?  Why?  What  could  there 
be  for  Robinson  to  be  shepherd  of? 

PRESENTATION 

With  his  bow  and  arrow,  Robinson  went  hunting  every 
day.  The  rabbits  soon  learned  to  know  him  and  let  them- 
selves be  seldom  seen.  As  soon  as  they  saw  him,  they  took 
alarm.  They  became  timid  and  shy.  One  day  Robin- 
son went  out  as  usual  to  shoot  rabbits.  He  found  none. 
But  as  he  came  to  a  great  rock  he  heard  from  behind  a 
new  sound,  one  he  had  not  heard  before  in  the  island. 
Baa-ait  sounded.  "A  kid,  "thought  Robinson,  "like  that 
with  which  I  have  so  often  played  at  home."  He  slipped 
noiselessly  around  the  rock  and  behold,  really  there  stood 
a  kid.  He  tried  to  call  it,  but  the  kid  sought  safety  in 
flight.  He  hastened  after  it.  Then  he  noticed  that  it 
was  lame  in  one  fore  foot.  It  ran  into  some  brush,  where 
Robinson  seized  it  by  the  horns  and  held  it  fast. 

How  Robinson  rejoiced!  He  stroked  it  and  fondled 
it.  Then  he  thought,  how  could  it  come  into  this  wilder- 
ness on  this  lonesome  island?  "Has  your  ship  been  cast 
85 


86  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

upon  the  rocks  too,  and  been  broken  to  pieces?"  You 
dear  thing,  you  shall  be  my  comrade."  He  seized  the 
goat  by  the  legs,  and  no  matter  how  it  kicked,  carried  it 
to  his  cave. 

Then  he  fetched  quickly  a  cocoanut  shell  full  of  water 
and  washed  and  bathed  the  goat's  wounded  leg.  A  stone 
had  rolled  down  from  the  hill  and  had  inflicted  a  severe 
wound  on  his  left  fore  leg,  or  perhaps  she  had  stepped 
into  a  crack  in  the  rocks.  Robinson  tore  oif  a  piece  of 
linen  from  his  shirt,  dipped  it  in  water  and  bound  it  with 
shreds  of  the  cocoanut  upon  the  wound.  Then  he  pulled 
some  grass  and  moss  and  made  a  soft  bed  near  the  door 
of  the  cave.  After  he  had  given  it  water,  it  looked  at 
him  with  thankful  eyes  and  licked  his  hand. 

Robinson  could  not  sleep  that  night.  He  thought 
continually  of  his  goat  and  got  up  time  and  again  to  see 
if  it  was  safe.  The  moon  shone  clear  in  the  heavens. 
As  Robinson  sat  before  the  goat's  bed  he  looked  down  on 
his  new  possession  as  lovingly  as  a  mother  on  her  child. 

The  next  morning  Robinson's  first  thought  was,  "  I  am 
no  longer  alone.  I  have  a  companion,  my  goat."  He 
sprang  up  and  looked  for  it.  There  she  lay  on  her  side, 
still  sleeping. 

As  he  stood  and  considered,  the  thought  came  to  him 
that  perhaps  the  goat  had  escaped  from  its  keeper.  There 
must  then  be  some  one  living  on  the  land.  He  quickly 
put  on  his  shoes  and  his  hat,  took  his  parasol,  and  ran  to 
the  rock  where  he  had  found  the  goat. 

He  called,  he  sought,  he  peered  about  to  see  if  some 
shepherd  were  there  somewhere.  He  found  nothing. 
He  found  no  trace  of  man.  There  was  no  road,  no  bridge, 
no  field,  no  logs,  not  even  a  chip  or  shaving  to  show  that 
the  hand  of  man  had  been  there. 


THE   TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  87 

But  what  was  that?  In  the  distance  ran  a  herd  of 
goats  over  the  rocks.  But  no  dog  followed  them  and 
no  shepherd.  They  ran  wild  on  the  island.  They  had 
perhaps  been  left  there  by  some  ship.  As  he  came  home 
he  noticed  the  goat  sorrowfully.  The  bandage  had  be- 
come dry.  The  goat  might  be  suffering  pain.  Robinson 
loosened  the  bandage,  washed  the  wound  again  and  bound 
it  up  anew.  It  was  so  trustful.  It  ran  after  him  and  he 
decided  always  to  protect  it.  "I  will  always  be  your 
shepherd  and  take  care  of  you,"  he  said. 


THINGS    TO    THINK   AND    TALK    ABOUT 

(a)  Sheep  and  goats. 

(b)  Why  do  sheep  need  the  constant  care  if  a  shepherd?  Do 
cattle  need  a  herder?  What  useful  material  do  we  get  from  sheep? 
From  goats?  Tell  how  wool  is  cut  from  sheep,  and  prepared  for 
spinning  and  weaving.  How  had  Robinson  heretofore  obtained 
food.  Has  he  sowed  seed  and  raised  food  —  cultivated  the  soil  ? 
Has  he  had  flocks  and  herds?  Has  he  not  been  a  hunter?  Has  he 
not  supplied  all  his  needs  by  finding  his  food  and  clothing  and 
shelter,  just  as  savage  men  do  ?  Did  the  Indians  cultivate  the  soil 
or  live  by  hunting  and  fishing?  Is  it  not  good  to  depend  upon 
hunting  alone  for  food?  Why  is  it  better  to  have  sheep,  goats, 
horses  and  cattle  —  tame,  domesticated  animals  ?  Will  Robinson  feel 
safer  when  he  has  a  flock  of  goats?  Do  you  know  of  any  people 
or  country  that  makes  a  business  of  herding  sheep  and  cattle? 
Robinson  with  his  goats  will  not  have  to  work  so  hard  for  his  food 
and  clothing  and  he  will  be  more  sure  of  having  food  and  clothing. 

(c)  Why  did  Robinson  feel  so  glad  on  finding  the  goat  ?  He  was 
lonely  and  wished  for  companions.  What  was  the  first  thing  he 
did  on  finding  himself  alone  on  land?  He  had  idled  away  his  time 
with  worthless  fellows.  Now  he  has  no  human  face  to  look  upon 
and  is  glad  to  have  the  company  of  even  a  goat.  Do  you  like  Robin- 
son's kindness  to  the  goat?  What  sheep  picture  have  you  seen  that 
you  liked? 


88  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 
(a)    Represent  Robinson  carrying  home  his  wounded  kid. 


KOBINSON   CARRYING    HOME   THE    KID 


XIX 
ROBINSON   BUILDS  A  HOME  FOR  HIS   GOAT 

PREPARATION 

How  do  you  suppose  Robinson  will  protect  his  goat,  shelter  it 
and  provide  food  for  it?  What  kind  of  shelter  will  he  build  for 
it  ?  Will  he  need  to  protect  it  from  cold  ?  From  what  will  he  need 
to  protect  it.  From  heat?  Animals?  Will  he  need  to  keep  it 
tied,  tethered  or  fenced  in  to  prevent  its  wandering  away  and  joining 
the  flock  of  wild  goats  ?    How  will  Robinson  build  such  a  fence  ? 

PRESENTATION 

But  the  goat  was  a  new  care.  Wild  animals  could  come 
and  kill,  and  carry  Robinson's  goat  away  while  he  slept,  and 
if  the  goat  got  frightened  while  he  was  hunting  it  would 
run  away.  "I  will  have  to  make  me  a  little  yard  in  front 
of  my  cave,"  he  said,  "for  my  goat  to  live  in."  But  from 
whence  must  come  the  tools?  He  had  neither  hatchet 
nor  saw.  Where  then  were  the  stakes  to  come  from  ?  He 
went  in  search  of  something.  After  hunting  for  a  long 
time  he  came  upon  a  kind  of  thistle  about  two  feet  higher 
than  himself,  having  at  its  top  a  red  torch-like  blossom. 
There  were  a  great  many  of  them.  "Good!"  thought 
Robinson,  "if  I  could  only  dig  up  enough  of  them  and 
plant  them  thick  around  the  door  of  my  cave,  I  would 
have  just  the  thing.     No  one  could  get  at  me,  nor  at  the 

89 


go  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

goat,  either.  The  thorns  would  keep  anything  from 
creeping  through,  peeping  in  or  getting  over." 

So  he  took  his  mussel-shell  spade  and  went  to  work. 
It  was  pretty  hard,  but  at  length  he  succeeded  in  laying 
bare  the  roots  of  quite  a  number.  But  he  could  not  drag 
them  to  his  cave  on  account  of  the  thorns  sticking  him. 
He  thought  a  long  time.  Finally,  he  sought  out  two 
strong  poles  or  branches  which  were  turned  up  a  little 
at  one  end  and  like  a  sled  runner.  To  these  he  tied 
twelve  cross-pieces  with  bark.  To  the  foremost  he  tied 
a  strong  rope  made  from  cocoa  fiber.  He  then  had  some- 
thing that  looked  much  like  a  sled  on  which  to  draw  his 
thistle-like  brush  to  his  cave.  But  for  one  day  he  had 
done  enough.  The  transplanting  of  the  thistles  was 
hard  work.  His  spade  broke  and  he  had  to  make  a  new 
one.  In  the  afternoon  he  broke  his  spade  again.  And 
as  he  made  his  third  one,  he  made  up  his  mind  that  it 
was  no  use  trying  to  dig  with  such  a  weak  tool  in  the  hard 
ground.     It  would  only  break  again. 

"If  I  only  had  a  pick."  But  he  had  none.  He  lound 
a  thick,  hard,  sharp  stone.  With  it  he  picked  up  the  hard 
earth,  but  had  to  bend  almost  double  in  using  it.  "At 
home,"  he  thought,  "they  have  handles  to  picks."  The 
handle  was  put  through  a  hole  in  the  iron.  He  turned  the 
matter  over  and  over  in  his  mind,  how  he  might  put  a  hole 
through  the  stone.  But  he  found  no  means.  He  searched 
out  a  branch  with  a  crotch  at  one  end.  He  tied  the  stone  to 
this  with  strong  cocoa  fiber  and  bark.  How  his  eye  glis- 
tened as  he  looked  at  the  new  tool!  Now  he  began  to 
work.  He  first  loosened  up  the  earth  with  his  pick,  then 
he  dug  it  out  with  his  spade  and  planted  in  a  high  thistle. 
Many  days  he  had  to  work,  but  finally  one  evening  the 
hedge  was  ready.    He  had  a  row  in  a  semi-circle  in  front 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  gi 

of  his  cave.  He  counted  the  marks  on  his  calendar 
tree.  The  day  on  which  he  had  begun  to  make  his 
hedge  he  had  especially  marked  out.  He  had  worked 
fourteen  days. 

He  had  completed  his  hedge  with  the  exception  of  a 
small  hole  that  must  serve  for  a  door.  But  the  door 
must  not  be  seen  from  without. 

As  Robinson  thought,  it  came  to  him  that  there  was 
still  place  for  two  thistles  on  the  outside.  He  could  easily 
get  in,  but  the  entrance  was  difficult  to  find  from  the 
outside. 

Robinson  looked  on  his  hedge  from  without.  It  was 
not  yet  thick  enough.  For  this  reason  he  planted  small 
thistles  between  the  larger  ones.  With  the  digging  them 
out  and  transplanting  them  he  was  a  whole  week  longer. 

Finally,  the  hedge  and  the  yard  were  ready.  Now 
Robinson  could  rest  without  fear  and  sleep  in  his  cave, 
and  could  have  his  goat  near  him  all  the  time.  It  delighted 
him  greatly.  It  ran  after  him  continually  like  a  dog. 
When  he  came  back  from  an  absence,  it  bleated  for 
joy  and  ran  to  meet  him  as  soon  as  he  got  inside  the  hedge. 
Robinson  felt  that  he  was  not  entirely  alone.  He  had 
now  a  living  being  near  him. 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  What  animals  need  Robinson  fear  on  his  island?  Does  he 
know  what  animals  he  will  or  might  find?  Has  he  explored  his 
island  thoroughly  ?  Had  he  gone  to  school  would  he  not  have  known 
more  about  the  climate  and  animals  of  the  island  ?  Of  what  do  we 
make  hedges  ?  Name  some  hedge  plants.  Are  thistles  good  hedge 
plants?  Why?  Have  you  seen  thistles  growing?  What  animals 
in  our  country  trouble  sheep  and  goats? 

(6)    Can  you  think  of  some  other  way  that  Robinson  might  have 


92  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

made  a  shelter  for  his  goat?  Do  you  remember  how  his  mussel- 
shell  spade  was  made?  Why  did  not  Robinson  plant  the  seeds  of 
the  plant  and  thus  avoid  the  labor  of  transplanting  the  thistles  ? 

(b)  What  tools  now  has  Robinson  invented  ?  He  has  invented  them 
as  he  needed  them.  Don't  you  think  he  could  have  made  a  hole 
through  the  stone  had  he  known  better  how  to  work?  Could  the 
Indians  bore  holes  through  stone?  Have  you  seen  the  stone  tools 
in  the  museum  with  holes  in  them?  Do  you  know  how  they  were 
bored?  How  did  the  Indians  fasten  stone  tools  on  handles.  De- 
scribe the  tools  you  have  seen  in  the  museum. 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(c)  Represent  Robinson's  cave  in  the  hillside  with  the  hedge 
in  front. 

(c)  Select  a  suitable  stone  and  try  to  make  a  hole  in  it.  Try  to 
fasten  a  handle  on  to  some  stone  tool  you  have  made. 


XX 

ROBINSON  GETS  READY  FOR  WINTER 
PREPARATION 

When,  at  what  time  in  the  year,  did  Robinson  arrive  in  the  island  ? 
Does  Robinson  yet  know  in  what  zone  he  is?  Or  maybe  he  does 
not  know  about  hot  and  cold  places  on  the  earth.  Did  he  study  his 
geography?  Does  he  know  about  the  changes  of  seasons  at  the 
place  he  now  is?  What  were  the  seasons  at  the  place  he  came 
from?  Would  he  not  naturally  suppose  that  he  would  have  the 
same  changes  in  the  island?  Would  he  not  worry  about  the  com- 
ing of  winter?  Is  Robinson  now  in  shape  for  winter  coming? 
Has  he  warm  clothing?  Is  his  shelter  warm  enough  to  protect 
him?  Has  he  a  good  supply  of  food?  Do  you  know  whether  or 
not  there  is  really  winter  in  Robinson's  Island? 

PRESENTATION 

There  was  one  thing  that  troubled  Robinson  greatly. 
"What  will  become  of  me  when  the  winter  comes?  I 
will  have  no  fire  to  warm  me.  I  have  no  clothing  to  pro- 
tect me  from  the  cold,  and  where  shall  I  find  food  when 
snow  and  ice  cover  all  the  ground  and  when  the  trees 
are  bare  and  the  spring  is  frozen  ?  It  will  be  cold  then  in 
my  cave ;  what  shall  I  do  ?  It  is  cold  and  rainy  already. 
I  believe  this  is  harvest  time  and  winter  will  soon  be  here. 
Winter  and  no  stove,  no  winter  clothing,  no  winter  store 
of  food  and  no  winter  dwelling.    What  shall  I  do?"    He 

93 


94  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

considered  again  the  project  of  making  fire.  He  again 
sought  out  two  pieces  of  wood  and  sat  down  and  rubbed 
them  together.  The  sweat  rolled  down  his  face.  When 
the  wood  began  to  get  warm  his  hand  would  become 
tired,  and  he  would  have  to  stop.  When  he  began  again 
the  wood  was  cold.  He  worked  for  an  hour  or  two,  then 
he  laid  the  wood  aside  and  said,  "I  don't  believe  I  can 
do  it.  I  must  do  the  next  best  thing.  I  can  at  least 
get  warm  clothing  to  protect  me  from  the  rain  and  snow." 
He  looked  down  at  his  worn,  thin  clothing,  his  trousers, 
his  shirt,  his  jacket;  they  had  become  so  thin  and  worn 
that  they  were  threadbare. 

"I  will  take  the  skins  of  the  hares  which  I  have  shot 
and  will  make  me  some  clothing,"  he  thought.  He  washed 
and  cleaned  them,  but  he  needed  a  knife  and  he  set  about 
making  one.  He  split  one  end  of  a  tough  piece  of  wood, 
thrust  his  stone  blade  in  it  and  wound  it  with  cocoa  fibre. 
His  stone  knife  now  had  a  handle.  He  could  now  cut 
the  skins  quite  well.  But  what  should  he  do  for  needle 
and  thread  ?  Maybe  the  vines  would  do.  "But  they  are 
hardly  strong  enough,"  he  thought.  He  pulled  the  sinews 
from  the  bones  of  the  rabbit  and  found  them  hard.  Maybe 
he  could  use  them.  He  found  fish  skeletons  on  the  sea- 
shore and  bored  a  hole  in  the  end  of  the  small,  sharp  rib 
bones.  Then  he  threaded  his  bone  needle  with  the  rab- 
bit sinews  and  attempted  to  sew,  but  it  would  not  go. 
His  needle  broke.  The  skin  was  too  hard.  He  bored 
holes  in  the  edge  of  the  pieces  of  skin  and  sewed  through 
the  holes.     This  went  very  well. 

He  sewed  the  skins  together  with  the  hair  side  inward, 
made  himself  a  jacket,  a  pair  of  trousers,  a  hat,  and 
finally  covered  his  parasol  with  rabbit  skin,  for  the  rain  had 
already  dripped  through  the  leaves  of  it.    All  went  well, 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  95 

only  the  trousers  did  not  fit.  He  loosened  them  and 
puckered  them  to  no  purpose.  "Anyway,"  he  thought, 
"I  am  now  well  protected  from  the  cold,  when  it  does 
come." 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Where  on  the  earth's  surface  is  it  coldest  ?  Where  warmest  ? 
Do  you  know  about  the  zones?  Do  you  know  about  the  Frigid,  the 
Torrid,  and  the  Temperate  Zones?  What  changes  of  seasons  are 
there  in  the  Temperate  Zones?  In  the  Torrid  or  hot  zone?  Do 
plants  shed  their  leaves  and  rest  in  the  hot  zone?  Do  you  know 
any  plant  at  home  that  does  not  shed  its  leaves  during  the  winter? 
Do  you  know  any  plant  that  bears  fruit  continuously?  When  does 
our  harvest  time  come?  Does  winter  follow  our  grain  harvest? 
It  follows  our  com  and  apple  harvest.  Is  it  cold  in  the  rainy  season 
in  the  hot  zones? 

(b)  How  do  savages  dress?  Out  of  what  do  they  make  their 
clothes?  The  Indians?  The  Eskimos?  The  Savages?  Have 
you  seen  the  Indian  and  Eskimo  clothing  in  the  Museum?  How 
was  it  put  together?  What  do  Indians  and  Eskimos  use  for  thread  ? 
For  needles?  Does  their  sewing  show  skill  and  care?  Is  rabbit 
skin  good  for  clothing?  Do  you  think  Robinson  found  the  same 
kind  of  rabbits  there,  that  we  have  ?  Would  they  have  thick  fur  like 
ours?  Would  ours  furnish  good  material  for  making  clothing  for 
the  hot  zone?  Have  you  seen  stone  knives  in  the  museum?  The 
Indians  used  stone  knives.  Do  you  know  about  making  thread, 
yam,  and  cloth  ?  Why  did  not  Robinson  continue  his  weaving  and 
make  some  cloth  for  his  clothes  ?  Could  he  not  have  spun  yam  for 
the  cloth  out  of  cocoanut  fiber?  See  if  you  cannot  weave  from  this 
fibre  on  your  looms. 

(c)  Had  Robinson  been  thankful  for  good  things  at  home,  for 
food,  clothing,  friends?  Do  you  suppose  he  appreciated  them  now? 
Do  you  suppose  that  he  ever  thinks  of  old  times  and  wishes  that  the 
past  might  be  wiped  out?  Who  gives  you  food  and  clothing?  Who 
prepares  for  you  food  and  clothing  for  winter  and  a  warm  house  to 
live  in  ?  Is  Robinson  now  lazy  ?  What  has  made  him  better  ?  Do 
you  like  the  way  he  works  now?  Does  he  have  time  to  loiter  away? 
Has  he  his  time  filled  with  work? 


96  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(o)  You  will  now  need  to  study  Robinson's  appearance  in  his 
new  suit  and  make  careful  drawings  of  him.  Draw  his  stone  knife 
with  handle. 

(c)  Try  to  make  a  needle  out  of  bone.  Would  it  not  be  diffi- 
cult for  you  to  make  a  stone  knife  as  Robinson  did  ? 


KOBINSON     IN   HIS    NEW     SUIT 


XXI 

HOW  ROBINSON  LAYS  UP  A  STORE  OF  FOOD 

PREPARATION 

Can  you  think  what  foods  Robinson  could  store  up  for  use  at 
a  time  when  none  could  be  gathered?  What  do  we  use  to  pre- 
serve meats?     How  are  fruits  preserved ?     How  are  grains  kept? 

PRESENTATION 

Now  for  the  food.  Could  Robinson  preserve  the  meat? 
He  had  often  heard  his  mother  tell  about  preserving  meat 
in  salt.  He  had  even  eaten  salt  meat,  pickled  meat. 
But  where  could  he  get  salt? 

One  day  when  the  wind  blew  hard  the  water  was  driven 
upon  the  shore  and  filled  a  little  hollow.  After  a  few  days 
the  ground  glistened  white  as  snow,  where  the  water  had 
been.  Was  it  snow?  Robinson  took  it  in  his  hands 
and  put  it  in  his  mouth.  It  was  salt.  The  sun  had 
evaporated  the  water  in  the  hollow  —  had  vaporized  it  — 
and  the  air  had  drunk  it  up.  What  was  left  behind  ? 
Salt.     Now  he  could  get  salt  as  long  as  he  needed  it. 

He  took  cocoanut  shells  and  strewed  salt  in  them. 
Then  he  cut  the  rabbit  meat  in  thin  strips,  rubbed  them 
with  salt,  and  laid  them  one  on  the  other  in  the  salt  in  the 
shells.  He  covered  it  over  with  a  layer  of  salt.  He  put 
over  each  shell  the  half  of  a  larger  one  and  weighted  it 

97 


98  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

down  with  stones.  After  a  period  of  fourteen  days  he 
found  the  meat  quite  red.     It  had  pickled. 

But  he  did  not  stop  here.  He  gathered  and  stored  in 
his  cellar  cocoanuts  and  com  in  such  quantities  that  he 
would  be  supplied  for  a  whole  winter.  It  seemed  best 
to  catch  a  number  of  rabbits,  build  a  house  for  them  and 
keep  them.  Then  he  could  kill  one  occasionally  and  have 
fresh  meat.  Then  it  came  to  him  that  goats  would  be 
much  better,  for  they  would  give  milk.  He  determined 
immediately  to  have  a  herd  of  goats.  He  made  a  string 
or  lasso  out  of  cocoa  fibre. 

Then  he  went  out,  slipped  up  quietly  to  a  herd  of  goats 
and  threw  the  lasso  over  one.  But  the  lasso  slipped  from 
the  horns  and  the  goat  ran  away.  The  next  day  he  had 
better  luck.  He  threw  the  lasso,  drew  it  tight  and  the 
goat  was  captured.  He  brought  it  home.  He  rejoiced 
when  he  saw  that  it  gave  milk.  He  was  happy  when  he 
got  his  first  cocoa  shell  full  of  sweet  rich  milk.  His  goat 
herd  grew.  He  soon  had  five  goats.  He  had  no  more 
room  in  his  yard.  He  could  not  provide  food  enough. 
He  must  let  them  out.  "I  must  make  another  hedge 
around  my  yard  so  that  the  goats  can  get  food  and  yet  be 
kept  from  going  away.  He  got  stakes  from  the  woods 
and  gathered  them  before  his  cave.  He  sharpened  them 
and  began  to  drive  them  in  the  earth.  But  it  rained  more 
and  more  each  day.  He  was  wet  through  as  he  worked. 
He  had  finally  to  stop  work,  for  the  rain  was  too  heavy. 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(b)  How  do  we  obtain  salt?  Do  we  get  any  by  evaporating  salt 
water?  What  is  it  to  evaporate?  Could  he  not  have  dried  his 
meat?    Would  this  not  have  been  better?    Why  did  he  not  do  this? 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  99 

Is  not  dried  meat  better  tlian  salt  or  pickled  meat?  Do  you  think 
Robinson  could  have  succeeded  in  taming  or  keeping  his  rabbits? 

Which  kind  of  life  is  better  —  hunting  or  being  a  shepherd? 
Which  is  safer?  At  which  does  one  have  to  work  the  harder? 
Robinson  was  now  both  a  hunter  and  a  shepherd.  Did  Robinson 
know  what  this  rain  meant? 

Do  animals  make  preparation  for  winter  in  our  climate  ?  Do  they 
in  tropic  climates? 

For  what  do  they  make  preparation  ?  How  many  seasons  in  tropic 
countries?  Tell  of  the  winter  preparations  of  some  animals  you 
know  of?  Do  plants  prepare  for  winter?  Do  they  in  the  same 
way  as  plants?  How  do  animals  prepare  for  winter?  How  do 
plants  ? 


ROBINSON    UILEING    HIS    GOAT 


loo  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  Picture  Robinson  lassoing  a  goat.  Don't  forget  Robinson's 
new  clothes.  Make  landscape  drawing,  putting  in  all  the  plants 
you  know  in  Robinson's  Island. 


XXII 
ROBINSON'S   DIARY 

PREPARATION 

How  do  you  suppose  we  know  what  Robinson  did  while  he  was 
alone  on  the  island?  Has  he  yet  fcund  a  way  to  write  anything 
down  ?  Do  you  suppose  he  will  ?  What  is  needed  in  order  for  him 
to  write  down  things  as  they  happen  from  day  to  day?  He  needs 
paper,  ink  and  pens.  Do  you  think  of  anything  that  could  be  used 
instead  of  paper?  Anything  instead  of  our  ink?  Instead  of  our 
steel  and  gold  pens? 

Write  a  story  telling  how  Robinson  finally  got  together  the  things 
needed  to  write  with. 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson  was  much  disturbed  because  he  had  no  means 
of  keeping  a  record  of  things  as  they  happened  from  day 
to  day.  He  had  his  calendar,  it  is  true.  He  would  not 
lose  track  of  the  time.  But  he  wished  for  some  way  to 
write  down  his  thoughts  and  what  happened.  So  he 
kept  up  keen  search  for  anything  that  would  serve  him 
for  this  purpose. 

Every  time  he  journeyed  about  the  island  he  kept  care- 
ful watch  for  something  that  he  might  write  upon.  He 
thought  of  the  leaves  of  the  palm  tree,  the  white  under 
surface  of  the  shelf  fungus.  But  these  he  found  would 
not  do.  He  tried  many  kinds  of  bark  and  leaves.  There 
was  a  kind  of  tall  reed  or  grass  growing  in  the  marshes 


I02  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

whose  rind  scemtd  good  when  dried.  He  examined  the 
inner  bark  of  many  trees.  He  at  last  found  that  the  inner 
bark  of  a  tree  which  resembled  our  elm  tree  worked  best. 
He  would  cut  through  the  bark  with  his  stone  knife  around 
the  tree.  At  about  one  foot  from  this  he  would  cut  an- 
other ring.  He  then  would  cut  through  the  bark  length- 
wise from  one  circular  cut  to  the  other.  He  could  then 
peel  off  the  section  easily.  While  it  was  yet  full  of  sap  he 
would  separate  the  soft,  tough,  thin  inner  layer  of  the 
bark.  This  usually  came  off  in  sheets  without  a  break. 
When  these  sheets  of  bark  were  stretched  and  dried 
they  could  be  used  very  nicely  instead  of  paper. 

Robinson  next  searched  for  something  that  would  serve 
him  as  ink,  and  this  was  much  easier  to  find  than  paper. 
He  had  noticed  many  kinds  of  galls  of  many  different 
colors  growing  on  trees.  He  did  not  know  what  they 
were,  or  how  they  grew,  but  he  had  learned  in  his  father's 
store  that  ink  was  often  made  from  galls  gathered  from 
trees.  "Anyway,"  he  thought,  "I  can  get  ink  from  the 
cuttle-fish."  He  had  watched  this  animal  get  away  from 
its  enemies  by  sending  out  a  cloud  of  purplish  fluid,  in 
which  to  hide  as  it  darted  away.  He  had  learned  also 
that  indigo  is  made  from  the  leaves  of  a  plant.  He  had 
noticed  a  plant  growing  in  the  open  places  in  the  forest 
whose  leaves  turned  black  when  dried. 

Robinson  gathered  a  quantity  of  gall-nuts  and  soaked 
them  in  water.  To  the  black  fluid  thus  obtained  he  added 
a  little  rice  water  to  make  it  flow  well,  and  this  served  very 
well  as  an  ink.  He  kept  his  ink  in  a  cup  made  from  a 
cocoanut  shell. 

He  was  not  long  in  getting  a  pen,  though  the  lack  of 
a  good  sharp  knife  made  it  hard  to  make  a  good  one. 
In  going  about  he  had  gathered  a  quantity  of  large  feathers. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  103 

He  saved  these  for  the  time  when  he  should  have  his  paper 
and  ink  ready.  Now,  he  cut  away  a  quill  to  a  point  and 
split  it  up  a  little  way.  He  was  now  supplied  with  writing 
materials.  "It  it  not  wonderful,"  he  thought,  "how  all 
our  wants  are  tilled  ?  We  have  only  to  want  a  thing  badly 
enough  and  it  comes." 

Robinson  began  at  once  to  write  down  the  date  for  each 
day  and  the  main  thing  he  did  or  that  happened  on  it. 
He  called  this  his  diary.  He  had  now  a  better  way  of 
keeping  time  than  on  his  tree  calendar.  He  did  not  need 
it  any  more. 

You  have  no  doubt  wondered  how  Robinson  could 
work  in  his  cave,  especially  at  night  without  a  light.  The 
truth  is,  it  was  a  great  source  of  discomfort  to  him.  At 
sunset  he  was  in  total  darkness  in  his  cave.  During  the 
daylight  enough  streamed  in  from  the  open  doorway. 
To  be  alone  in  total  darkness  is  not  pleasant.  "If  I  only 
had  fire!"   he  said  again  and  again. 

He  watched  the  many  large  beetles  and  fire-flies  flash 
their  light  in  the  dark  of  the  evening  as  he  sat  in  front  of 
his  shelter.  The  thought  came  to  him  that  if  he  only 
had  some  way  of  keeping  together  a  number  of  them, 
they  would  serve  very  well  for  a  candle  in  his  cave  at 
night.  How  he  longed  for  a  glass  bottle  such  as  he  had 
so  often  wantonly  broken  when  at  home!  Back  of  his 
shelter  there  was  a  hill  where  the  rock  layers  jutted  out. 
He  had  noticed  here  several  times  the  thin  transparent 
rock  that  he  had  seen  in  his  father's  store.  It  is  called 
isinglass.  "I  will  make  a  living  lantern,"  he  said  aloud 
in  his  eagerness.  He  soon  had  a  suitable  piece  pried 
loose.  He  cut  a  part  of  a  cocoanut  shell  away  and  in  its 
place  he  put  a  sheet  of  isinglass.  That  evening  at  dark 
he  gathered  several  handfuls  of  the  great  fire  beetles  and 


I04  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

put  them  in  his  lantern.  What  joy  their  glow  gave  him 
in  his  cave,  at  night.  It  was  almost  as  much  comfort  as  a 
companion.  But  while  it  lighted  up  the  deep  dark  of  the 
cave  and  enabled  him  to  move  about,  he  was  unable  after 
all  to  write  in  his  diary  at  night.  Every  morning  he  set 
his  captives  free.  In  the  evening  he  would  go  out  and 
capture  his  light. 


THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  The  bark  of  trees,  uses,  etc.  Bark  of  birches  and  elm  trees. 
Galls  on  plant,  causes  and  uses.  The  squid  or  cuttle  fish.  The 
firefly  —  the  reason  for  its  light  —  the  way  it  makes  it. 

(b)  Our  books  were  first  made  of  bark,  probably  of  the  birch 
tree.  What  did  the  Indians  use  on  which  to  write?  Many  people 
have  stone  books.  Papyrus,  paper.  Could  Robinson  have  made 
paper?  How  do  the  Eskimos  light  their  igloos?  Why  did  not 
Robinson  get  some  tallow  from  his  goat  meat  and  make  a  "tallow 
dip?" 

(c)  What  does  Robinson's  success  in  doing  things  teach  us? 


ROBINSON   WRITING   IN   HIS   DIARY 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  105 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  Picture  Robinson  sitting  before  his  shelter  writing  in  his 
diary.     Show  that  it  is  near  the  close  of  day. 

(b)  The  children  may  fasten  together  loose  leaves  of  writing 
paper  and  bind  them  into  a  book  for  a  diary.  Write  down  each  day 
some  interesting  or  important  thing  that  happened. 


XXIII 
ROBINSON  IS  SICK 

PREPARATION 

What  will  Robinson  do  for  someone  to  help  him  if  he  gets  sick? 
Will  he  not  die  without  care  ?  What  do  we  do  for  help,  when  sick  ? 
Poor  Robinson  has  no  one  upon  whom  he  may  call  in  time  of  need. 


PRESENTATION 

One  evening  Robinson  went  to  bed  sound  and  well. 
The  next  morning  he  was  sick.  Before  he  had  only  the 
heat  of  the  day  to  complain  of.  To-day  he  was  freezing. 
He  wanted  to  go  to  work  to  get  warm,  but  even  this  did 
not  break  his  chill.  It  increased  till  his  teeth  chattered 
with  the  cold. 

"Perhaps,"  thought  he,  "if  I  can  sleep  a  little  I  will  get 
better."  But  he  could  not  sleep.  He  was  burning  with 
fever  and  then  shaking  with  cold  by  turns.  He  felt  a 
strong  thirst,  but  he  was  so  weak  that  he  could  scarcely 
get  the  goat's  milk.  He  had  no  sooner  drank  the  milk 
than  his  tongue  was  as  dry  as  before.  He  felt  better  after 
a  night  of  sleep,  but  the  next  day  his  fever  and  chills  were 
worse  than  before.  Then  he  bethought  him  of  his  parents. 
How  kindly  his  mother  had  taken  care  of  him!  Now  no 
one  was  near  that  could  assist  him.     "Ah,"  he  sighed, 

io6 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  107 

"must  I  die  here?  Who  would  bury  mc?  There  is 
no  one  to  miss  me."     At  this  the  tears  came  to  his  eyes. 

His  sickness  increased  with  each  day.  Occasionally 
the  fever  would  go  down  sufficiently  to  allow  him  to  get 
something  to  eat.  Then  it  would  be  worse  than  before. 
In  his  dire  need  he  wanted  to  pray,  but  he  was  so  weak 
that  he  could  only  slammer,  "Dear  God,  help  me,  or  I 
shall  die!" 

One  night  he  had  a  strange  dream.  He  thought  he 
saw  his  good  old  father  standing  before  him  calling  to  him. 
He  spread  out  his  arms  and  cried  aloud,  "Here  I  am, 
here  I  am!"  He  tried  to  get  up,  but  he  was  so  weak  that 
he  fell  back  fainting. 

He  lay  there  a  long  time,  but  finally  came  to.  He  felt 
a  burning  thirst,  but  no  one  reached  him  a  drop  of  water. 
He  prepared  to  die.  He  folded  his  hands  and  prayed 
to  God  that  he  would  be  merciful  to  him.  He  prayed  for- 
giveness from  his  parents.  Once  more  he  raised  his  head 
and  gazed  wildly  around,  then  he  sank  back  and  knew 
no  more. 

When  he  again  awoke  he  felt  better.  His  hot  fever  had 
gone.  He  attempted  to  walk.  He  had  just  enough  strength 
to  crawl  to  the  table  and  fetch  a  shell  of  water.  W^hen 
he  tried  to  walk  he  had  to  sit  down  at  every  two  or  three 
steps. 

From  this  he  recovered  gradually,  growing  better  and 
better,  and  he  thanked  God  inwardly  for  his  recovery. 
His  sickness  had  continued  from  June  18  to  July  3. 


io8  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(c)  Does  not  Robinson  miss  the  many  comforts  of  his  home? 
Who  had  nursed  him  when  at  home?  Did  he  not  have  a  fine,  soft 
bed  to  sleep  in  ?  Do  you  not  wonder  what  kind  of  bed  he  now  has  ? 
Will  he  not  now  recall  the  kindness  of  his  mother  and  father?  Can 
you  think  of  anything  more  pitiable  than  Robinson's  condition? 
One  in  prison  has  companions  and  a  nurse  and  a  doctor  when  one  is 
ill.  Is  it  not  sad  to  think  of  Robinson  lying  long  weeks  at  the  point 
of  death  with  no  one  near? 


XXIV 

ROBINSON'S  BOWER 

PREPARATION 

What  was  Robinson's  reason  for  making  his  home  in  the  cave? 
Has  he  found  any  animals  he  needs  to  fear?  Is  it  healthful  to  live 
in  a  cave?  Maybe  Robinson's  sickness  was  brought  on  because 
he  lived  under  ground.  Tell  how  he  may  remedy  this  and  get  a 
better  place  to  sleep. 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson's  sickness  set  him  thinking  about  his  home. 
He  had  been  so  afraid  of  animals  when  he  came  to  the 
island  that  he  thought  of  nothing  but  protection  from 
them.  He  had  been  now  a  year  on  the  island  and  had 
seen  nothing  more  dangerous  than  a  goat.  The  fear  of 
animals  had  practically  faded  away.  In  thinking  over 
his  sickness  he  made  up  his  mind  that  it  was  caused  by 
sleeping  in  his  cave  where  the  sun  never  shone.  The 
ventilation  seemed  good,  but  the  walls  were  damp,  especi- 
ally in  the  rainy  season.  Then  the  water  would  trickle 
down  through  the  cleft  in  spite  of  all  he  could  do. 

He  resolved  to  build,  if  possible,  a  little  cottage,  or, 

as  he  called  it,  a  bower,  in  the  yard  in  front  of  his  shelter. 

The  hedge  of  thistles  was  growing  and  formed  a  fence  that 

an  animal  could  not  get  through.     His  screen  of  willows 

on  the  outside  of  this  would  soon  hide  him  from  view 

109 


HO  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

from  the  sea.    He  had  the  wall  of  rock  and  the  hill  be- 
hind him. 

He  planned  out  his  way  of  building  it  very  carefully. 
"It  must  be  done,"  he  said  (Robinson  formed  the  habit 
of  talking  to  himself,  so  that  he  would  not  forget  how  to 
talk),  "without  hammer,  nails  or  saw." 

He  first  sought  out  four  posts,  as  large  as  he  could  well 
handle.  There  were  always  broken  trees  and  branches 
in  the  forest.  If  he  searched  long  enough  he  could  find 
posts  just  suited  to  his  need.  He  wanted  four  of  the 
same  thickness  and  height  and  with  a  fork  at  the  end. 
After  long  searching  he  found  what  he  wanted.  He 
was  careful  to  get  those  that  he  could  drag  to  his  shelter. 

He  placed  these  in  the  ground,  forming  the  corners  of  a 
square  about  ten  feet  long.  In  the  forks  he  placed  poles 
running  around  about  eight  feet  from  the  ground.  At 
about  every  three  feet  he  fastened  others,  running  in  the 
same  way,  with  heavy  cords  made  of  fibre.  He  found 
his  greatest  trouble  with  the  roof.  It  must  be  sloped  to 
shed  rain.  He  had  to  find  two  more  forked  posts,  three 
or  four  feet  longer  than  the  others.  These  he  placed 
opposite  each  other  in  the  centers  of  two  sides.  Upon 
these  he  placed  a  ridge  pole.  He  then  laid  other  poles 
lengthwise  from  ridge-pole  to  the  edge  of  the  frames. 

His  frame  was  now  done.  His  plan  was  now  to  cover 
this  frame  with  straw  or  grasses  tied  in  bundles.  He  had 
seen  the  barns  in  the  country  thatched  in  this  way  by  the 
Dutch  farmers  in  New  York  State.  He  gathered  the 
straw  of  the  wild  rice.  It  was  long,  straight  and  tough. 
It  was  easily  tied  into  flat  bundles.  These  he  bound 
securely  on  to  the  frame  work  with  cords.  He  began  at 
the  bottom  so  that  the  ends  of  the  row  would  lap  over  the 
tops  of  the  last  one  put  on. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  in 

In  this  way  he  built  a  very  comfortable  and  rainproof 
bower.  It  was  easy  to  make  a  bed  of  poles  covered  with 
straw.  A  table  and  bench  were  added  and  shelves  of 
poles. 

Robinson  felt  great  joy  over  this  new  home.  "I  will 
not  now  be  sick  any  more,"  he  said.  "In  case  of  danger 
I  can  get  into  my  cave.  But  at  all  other  times  I  will  live 
in  my  bower."  He  had  use  still  for  his  cave.  He  could 
use  it  to  store  some  things  in.  But  he  had  to  be  careful 
about  the  dampness  in  wet  weather. 

Robinson  was  getting  to  feel  at  home.  He  was  no 
longer  so  sad.  He  did  not  grieve  so  much  for  home.  He 
looked  upon  his  home  with  great  delight.  It  was  secure. 
He  had  his  herd  of  goats  always  in  his  sight.  At  evening 
he  would  do  his  milking.  He  found  he  could  keep  the 
milk  for  some  time  in  the  cave.  He  was  tempted  to  try 
making  some  butter  from  the  good,  rich  cream.  "But," 
said  Robinson,  "I  have  neither  vessels  to  make  it  in  nor 
bread  to  eat  it  on." 

He  planned  many  things  to  do.  "  I  will  make  a  hammock 
some  day  for  my  bower  and  some  vessels  to  use  in  my 
work,"  he  thought. 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(b)  Do  you  think  Robinson  was  right  about  the  reason  for  his 
sickness?  Is  it  not  strange  that  Robinson  did  not  build  a  bower 
sooner?  Why  didn't  he?  It  was  really  easier  to  make  without 
tools  than  his  cave. 

How  is  your  home  given  fresh  air  and  sunshine?  How  is  your 
school-room  given  fresh  air?  Have  you  an  engine  in  the  base- 
ment forcing  fresh  air  in?  Find  where  the  fresh  air  comes  in  and 
where  the  foul  air  goes  out. 

(c)  Do  you  like  Robinson  for  feeling  a  pride  in  his  home  and 


112  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

the  work  of  his  own  hands  ?    Do  we  not  like  him  for  being  cheerful 
and  happy,  and  for  learning  to  do  so  many  things? 

Fresh  air  and  sunshine  are  necessary  to  health.  Had  Robinson 
gone  to  school,  he  would  have  learned  this.  He  would  have  known, 
too,  that  there  are  no  dangerous  animals  in  the  part  of  the  world 
where  he  was.  His  teachers  would  have  taught  him  how  the  bad 
blood  is  purified  by  fresh  air.  Robinson  had  felt  the  need  of  fresh 
air.  He  had  opened  the  cleft  above,  but  this  had  not  been  enough. 
It  is  Robinson's  duty  to  keep  well. 


ONE  or  ROBINSON  S  GOATS 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 
PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 


"3 


(a)  Draw  the  framework  to  Robinson's  Bower.  Show  it  with 
the  thatch  of  straw  on  it.  Make  a  landscape  showing  Robinson's 
home,  his  bower,  the  yard  with  goats,  the  rock  wall  in  the  back- 
ground. 

(b)  Construct  a  model  of  Robin.son's  bower.  Drawings  can  best 
be  made  from  your  model. 


Robinson's  bower 


XXV 

ROBINSON  AGAIN  EXPLORES  HIS  ISLAND 

PREPARATION 

Does  Robinson  yet  know  all  about  his  island?  Do  you  remem- 
ber his  first  exploration  of  it?  Will  he  not  wish  to  know  all  about 
it?  Maybe  that  inhabitants  may  yet  be  found?  Maybe  other 
kinds  of  fruits,  grains  and  animals  are  still  undiscovered  on  the 
island.  It  may  be  there  are  better  caves  for  him  to  live  in  and  better 
pasture  lands  for  his  goats.  Maybe  he  will  find  wild  cattle  and 
horses.  How  long  has  Robinson  now  been  on  the  island?  Has  he 
been  there  a  whole  year?  We  use  the  word  anniversary  to  name  the 
completion  of  a  year.  Name  some  fruit  and  grains  that  you  think 
Robinson  may  discover  if  he  explores  his  island  thoroughly?  Can 
you  tell  why  Robinson  has  not  explored  his  island?  Do  you  sup- 
pose he  was  afraid  ?    Of  what  ? 

PRESENTATION 

When  Robinson  recovered  his  strength  he  had  a  strong 

desire  to  see  more  of  the  island.     At  first  he  had  been  in 

constant  fear  of  wild  animals,  but  now  he  thought  he 

would  like  to  see  all  there  was  to  see  in  the  island.     On 

the  15th  of  July  he  started  out.     First  he  went  to  a  brook 

which  ran  into  the  sea  near  his  cave.     Its  water  was  clear 

and  pure;   along  its  shore  lay  beautiful  meadows.     As 

he  came  to  the  upper  course  of  the  brook  the  meadow 

gave  way  to  forest.     On  the  border  of  the  forest  he  found 

melons  and  grapes. 
114 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE]  115 

The  night  came  on  and  he  slept  again  in  a  tree.  The 
next  morning  he  went  farther  and  came  to  a  clear  rivulet. 
Here  the  region  was  wonderfully  beautiful.  The  flowers 
bloomed  as  in  a  garden,  and  near  the  flowers  stood  the 
most  splendid  a[)ple  and  orange  trees.  He  took  as  much 
of  the  fruit  as  he  could  carry  and  went  on  his  way.  This 
journey  continued  three  days.  7/he  grapes  which  he  had 
carried  he  dried  in  the  sun  and  made  raisins. 

The  loth  of  September  came,  one  year  had  passed  on 
the  island.  He  was  many  hundred  miles  from  home, 
alone  on  an  island.  With  tears  he  cried  out,  "Ah!  what 
are  my  dear  parents  saying?  They  have  no  doubt  long 
given  me  up  as  dead.  If  I  could  only  send  them  a  message 
to  comfort  them  and  let  them  know  how  much  I  love 
them!" 

The  day  was  celebrated  as  a  holiday.  He  thanked 
God  that  He  had  given  him  so  many  good  things.  Often 
he  had  lived  the  whole  day  in  care  and  anxiety.  Now 
he  tried  to  be  more  cheerful  and  to  meet  the  troubles  of 
each  day  w^ith  courage. 

But  Robinson  was  not  yet  satisfied.  He  longed  to 
know  more  of  the  island  and  prepared  himself  for  a  greater 
journey.  He  slung  his  hunting  pouch  over  his  shoulder, 
filled  it  full  of  food,  took  his  bow  and  arrows,  stuck  his 
stone  hatchet  in  his  belt  and  started  on  his  way.  He 
traveled  over  meadows,  through  beautiful  forests  in  which 
were  hundreds  of  birds.  He  was  delighted  as  they  sang 
and  fluttered   about. 

The  journey  was  beautiful  and  pleasant  to  Robinson. 
In  the  forests  he  often  saw  small  wild  creatures,  but  he 
shot  nothing.  After  the  first  night  he  slept  under  a  tree 
in  the  soft  grass,  for  he  had  now  no  fear  of  wild  animals. 

Along  the  shore  he  saw  great  groves  of  palms  with 


ii6  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

their  great  nuts.     He  saw,  too,  many  goats  in  all  parts 
of  the  island. 

Now  he  was  ready  to  take  the  shortest  way  home.  He 
had  not  gone  far  before  he  came  into  a  dark  forest.  He 
became  confused  and  wandered  about  for  several  days. 
On  the  fourth  day  he  came  to  a  little  pile  of  stones,  which 
he  had  made  to  mark  the  way  as  he  was  going  out.  From 
this  place  the  way  was  easy  to  find.  On  this  trip  he  was 
gone  already  two  weeks. 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(o)  What  animals  has  Robinson  found  up  to  this  time?  Is  it 
not  strange  that  he  has  not  said  more  about  birds  ?  Are  not  there 
many  birds  no  doubt  on  his  island  ?  Maybe  Robinson  does  not  care 
for  birds  or  think  them  worth  his  notice.  Could  they  be  of  any  use 
to  him?  Has  Robinson  yet  found  any  dangerous  animals?  Are 
there  none  in  this  island?  The  butterflies,  too,  and  moths,  Robin- 
son has  not  said  anything  about.  Do  you  think  Robinson  loved 
the  beautiful  things  of  nature,  the  birds,  flowers,  butterflies,  and 
moths?  He  seems  to  notice  only  those  animals  and  plants  that  he 
can  eat.  Is  this  not  because  he  did  not  go  to  school  and  leani  about 
all  the  wonderful  and  beautiful  things  of  nature  ? 

Do  melons  and  grapes  grow  wild?  On  what  kind  of  plants  do 
these  grow?     Is  the  melon  a  fruit  or  vegetable? 

(c)  Do  you  not  like  Robinson  because  he  now  remembers  his 
parents  and  grieves  for  them?  Do  you  not  think  his  parents  would 
like  to  hear  from  him?  Robinson,  too,  was  now  grateful  and  thank- 
ful. He  was  cheerful  and  happy.  He  thanked  God  for  the  many 
good  things  he  had  found.     Robinson  is  growing  thoughtful. 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  Study  the  pictures  of  forests  in  hot  countries  in  your  geo- 
graphies and  make  a  landscape  that  you  think  would  represent  some- 
thing like  that  Robinson  saw  on  his  journey. 

Can  you  draw  an  orange  tree  or  show  the  difference  between  an 
apple  and  an  orange  tree  ? 


X: 


XXVI 

ROBINSON  AND  HIS  BIRDS 

PREPARATION 

Would  you  not  like  to  have  Robinson  tell  about  the  birds  he  saw 
on  his  trip?  Can  you  tell  of  any  birds  he  would  be  likely  to  see? 
Did  you  ever  see  a  bird  whose  home  is  in  the  warm  zone  ?  Tell  a 
story  about  Robinson  catching  and  taming  a  parrot. 

PRESENTATION 

Of  all  the  things  he  saw  on  his  journey  Robinson  was 
most  delighted  with  the  birds.  They  were  of  the  most 
beautiful  colors.  The  forest  was  full  of  them.  They 
gleamed  like  jewels  in  the  deep  masses  of  foliage.  In  the 
morning  their  singing  filled  the  air  with  sound. 

Robinson  had  never  taken  much  notice  of  the  birds  at 
home.  But  now  every  living  thing  attracted  him.  He 
loved  to  see  them  happy.  He  would  watch  often  by  the 
hour  and  learn  the  habits  of  nesting  and  getting  food 
of  nearly  every  bird  on  the  island. 

Robinson  did  not  know  the  names  of  many  of  the  birds 
he  saw  on  the  island.  He  had  to  make  names  for  them. 
The  strangest  thing  he  saw  on  his  journey  was  the  nest 
of  what  he  called  the  yellow-tail.  This  bird  lives  in  colonies 
and  makes  its  nest  at  the  ends  of  the  long  leaves  of  the 
mountain  palm.     When  he  first  saw  these  queer  looking 

117 


ii8  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

sacks  hanging  from  ihc  kaves  he  was  amazed.  He  had 
never  seen  so  strange  a  sight.  From  the  end  of  each  great 
leaf  hung  a  long,  closely  woven  nest.  Robinson  could  not 
make  out  at  first  what  they  were.  Soon,  however,  he  saw 
the  birds  come  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  nests.  Here,  one 
hundred  feet  from  the  ground,  they  hung  their  nests. 
But  they  were  perfectly  safe. 

He  had  not  gone  far  from  the  tree  in  which  the  yellow- 
tails  had  their  nests  when  he  was  suddenly  startled  by  a 
voice  crying,  "Who,  who  are  you?"  Robinson  was 
greatly  frightened  and  hid  beneath  the  drooping  branches 
of  a  cedar  tree.  He  feared  every  moment  that  the  owner 
of  the  voice  would  make  his  appearance.  But  it  kept  at 
a  distance.  Every  few  minutes  from  the  depths  of  the 
forest  would  come  the  doleful  cry,  "Who,  who  are  you?" 
Robinson  did  not  dare  to  stir  from  his  hiding  place.  He 
remained  there  over  night.  After  the  night  came  on  he 
heard  the  strange  voice  no  more. 

The  next  day  he  renewed  his  journey.  He  saw  many 
birds  that  were  wholly  strange  to  him.  There  was  a  kind 
of  wild  pigeon  that  built  its  home  in  a  hole  in  the  rock. 
It  was  a  most  beautiful  bird  with  long,  slender,  graceful 
feathers  in  its  tail.  He  saw  the  frigate  bird  soaring  high 
aloft  above  the  island.  The  numbers  and  beauty  of  the 
humming-birds  amazed  Robinson.  They  were  of  all 
colors.  One  had  a  bill  in  the  shape  of  a  sickle.  The 
most  brilliant  of  them  all  was  the  ruby-crested  humming- 
bird. 

Near  noon,  while  Robinson  was  shielding  himself  from 
the  scorching  heat  of  the  sun  in  a  deep,  shaded  glen,  he 
was  startled  again  by  the  strange  voice  crying,  "Who,  who, 
who  are  you?"  He  lay  quite  still,  determined  if  possible 
to  allow  the  voice  to  come,  if  it  would,  within  sight.    He 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  119 

heard  it  slowly  coming  up  the  glen.  Each  time  it  repeated 
the  cry  it  sounded  nearer.  At  last  he  saw  spying  at  him 
through  the  boughs  of  the  tree  under  which  he  was  lying 
a  large  bird  with  soft,  silky  feathers  of  green  and  chest- 
nut. "Who,  who,  who  arc  you?"  said  the  bird.  Rob- 
inson could  not  help  but  laugh.  He  had  been  frightened 
at  the  cry  of  a  bird. 

But  the  bird  that  interested  Robinson  most  was  the 
parrot.  There  were  several  kinds  of  them.  They  flew 
among  the  trees  with  great  noise  and  clatter  and  shriek- 
ing. Robinson  determined  if  possible  to  secure  one  for  a 
pet.  "T  can  teach  it  to  talk,"  he  said,  "and  I  will  have 
something  to  talk  to."  As  soon  as  he  returned  home  he  set 
about  catching  one.  He  noticed  that  a  number  were  in 
the  habit  of  visiting  an  old  tree  near  the  shelter  every 
morning.  He  planned  to  snare  one  and  tried  several 
mornings,  but  lie  could  not  get  one  into  the  snare.  He 
tried  to  hit  one  with  his  bow  and  arrow.  He  at  last  suc- 
ceeded in  hitting  one  and  stunning  it  so  that  it  fell  to  the 
ground.  He  ran  rapidly  to  pick  it  uj),  but  before  he 
could  get  to  where  it  lay  in  the  bushes  it  had  disappeared. 

After  thinking  the  matter  over  he  concluded  that  it 
would  be  much  better  to  get  a  pair  of  young  birds  and 
raise  them.  The  old  ones  would  be  hard  to  tame  and 
difficult  to  teach.  It  was  easy  enough  to  find  a  nest  in  a 
hollow  tree.  He  secured  from  the  nest  two  birds  just 
ready  to  fly.  He  made  a  cage  for  them  out  of  willow 
rods.  He  placed  the  cage  at  the  entrance  of  his  cave  and 
studied  how  he  would  feed  them,  ]\Iuch  to  his  surj)rise 
the  parent  birds  discovered  their  \'oung  ones  and  brought 
them  food  and  fed  them  through  the  open  work  of  the 
cage.  When  the  birds  were  grown  they  rapidly  learned 
to  talk.     Robinson  took  great  delight  in  teaching  them. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


He  taught  them  to  call  his  name  and  when  he  came  near 
they  would  call  out,  "Poor  old  Robinson  Crusoe!" 
These  birds  remained  for  many  years  with  Robinson. 
In  fact,  he  was  never  afterward  without  a  parrot.  They 
helped  him  to  pass  away  very  pleasantly  many  hours 
that  without  them  would  have  been  sad. 

Another  bird  that  Robinson  loved  was  the  little  house 
wren.  This  bird  was  exceedingly  tame  and  friendly. 
It  was  a  very  sweet  and  strong  singer.  It  loved  to  make 
its  nest  in  or  near  his  shelter.  There  it  would  build 
and  rear  its  young,  within  reach  of  his  hands,  while  its 
throat  was  always  bursting  with  melody. 

The  mocking  bird,  too,  always  nested  near  and  awakened 
him  in  the  morning  with  its  wonderful  song. 

Robinson  became  a  great  friend  and  favorite  of  the 
bird  inhabitants  of  the  island.  They  seemed  to  know 
him  and  showed  no  fear  when  near  him.  This  pleased 
him  very  much. 


THE   BIRD   CAGE 


ROBINSON    AND   THE   PARROT 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  121 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Birds  known  to  children  talked  about.  Different  kinds  of 
birds.     Bird  families. 

{b)  Uses  of  birds  to  farmers.  Food  of  birds.  Bird  habits, 
nesting,  rearing  young.     Immigrations.     Song  birds. 

(c)  Treatment  of  birds.  Harmless  and  defenseless.  They 
should  be  protected  by  all.  They  are  always  friendly  if  not  harmed. 
Robinson  loved  them.     They  were  his  companions. 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 


(a)  Make  a  drawing  of  Robinson's  bird  cage  from  model, 
to  draw  a  parrot  and  represent  Robinson  with  his  parrot. 

(b)  Make  model  of  Robinson's  cage. 


Study 


THE  PARROT 


XXVII 

ROBINSON  GETS  FIRE 
PREPARATION 

Do  you  think  Robinson  still  wishes  for  fire?  How  many  ways 
has  Robinson  tried  to  get  fire  ?  Should  he  not  try  again  ?  Do  you 
think  of  any  other  way  in  which  he  might  get  fire?  How  will  he 
keep  it  when  he  does  get  it?  How  will  fire  help  him?  Is  not  the 
climate  warm?  What  changes  will  it  make  in  his  way  of  life? 
Tell  how  Robinson  finally  gets  fire. 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson  was  now  pretty  comfortable.  He  had  his 
bower  with  its  chair  and  table.  He  had  his  cave  in  case 
of  danger.  He  had  his  cellar  in  which  to  keep  his  meat. 
He  would  sit  in  the  shade  near  the  door  of  his  bower  and 
think  of  the  many  things  he  should  be  thankful  for.  But 
there  was  one  hardship  that  Robinson  could  not  get  used 
to  and  that  was  the  eating  of  raw  food.  "How  fine  it 
would  be  if  only  I  could  parch  a  few  grains  of  corn  in  the 
fire!  I  could  live  hke  a  prince,"  thought  he,  "if  I  had 
fire.  I  would  grind  some  of  my  corn  into  flour  and 
make  some  corn  bread  or  cakes  and  cook  rice."  He  did 
so  long  for  roasted  meat  and  determined  to  again  make 
the  attempt  to  get  fire. 

Robinson  was  fast  losing  his  idle,  thoughtless  ways  of 
doing  things.     He  had  become  a  thoughtful  and  diligent 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  123 

man  in  the  short  timu  that  he  had  been  on  the  island. 
Trouble  and  hardship  had  made  a  man  of  him.  "1  must 
think  the  whole  matter  of  getting  fire  over  carefully," 
he  said.  He  had  failed  twice  and  was  now  resolved  to 
succeed.  "If  the  lightning  would  only  strike  a  tree," 
he  thought,  "and  set  it  on  fire.  But  he  could  not  wait 
for  such  a  thing  to  happen,  and  how  could  he  keep  it 
when  once  thus  obtained  ?  It  was  clear  he  must  have 
some  way  of  producing  fire  when  he  wanted  it,  just  as 
they  did  at  home?  He  thought  over  the  ways  he  had 
tried  and  the  one  most  likely  to  be  successful.  He  re- 
solved to  make  a  further  trial  of  the  method  by  twirling 
a  stick  in  his  hands.  He  selected  new  wood  that  was  hard 
and  dry.  He  carefully  sharpened  a  stick  about  eighteen 
inches  long  and,  standing  it  upright  in  a  hollow  in  the 
block  of  wood,  began  to  roll  it  between  his  hands.  By 
the  time  Robinson's  hands  were  well  hardened,  it  seemed 
that  he  was  going  to  succeed  at  last.  But  he  lacked  the 
skill  to  be  obtained  only  by  long  practice. 

"If  I  could  only  make  it  go  faster,"  he  said.  There 
must  be  some  way  of  doing  this.  I  believe  I  can  do  it. 
I  used  to  make  my  top  spin  round  with  a  cord ;  I  wonder 
if  I  can  use  the  cord  here."  The  only  cord  he  had  was 
attached  to  his  bow.  He  was  going  to  take  it  off  when 
a  thought  struck  him.  He  loosened  the  string  a  bit  and 
twisted  it  once  about  his  spindle.  Then  he  drew  the  bow 
back  and  forth.  The  spindle  was  turned  at  a  great  rate. 
He  saw  he  must  hold  one  end  with  his  left  hand  while 
the  other  rested  in  the  hollow  in  the  block.  With  his 
right,  he  drew  the  bow  back  and  forth.  How  eagerly 
he  worked!  He  had  twirled  but  a  few  minutes  when  the 
dust  in  the  hollow  burst  into  fire  from  the  heat  produced 
by  the  rapidly  twirling  spindle. 


124  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

Robinson  was  too  overjoyed  to  make  any  use  of  it.  He 
danced  and  capered  about  like  one  gone  mad  until  the 
fire  had  gone  out.  But  that  was  of  no  matter  now,  since 
he  could  get  fire  when  he  wanted  it. 

He  hastened  to  make  him  a  rude  fireplace  and  oven  of 
stones.  He  hollowed  out  a  place  in  the  ground  and  lined 
and  covered  it  with  large  flat  stones.  On  one  side  he 
built  up  a  chimney  to  draw  up  the  smoke  and  make  the 
fire  burn  brightly.  He  brought  wood  and  some  dry  fungus 
or  mushroom.  This  he  powdered  and  soon  had  fire 
caught  in  it.  He  kindled  in  this  way  the  wood  in  his 
stove  and  soon  had  a  hot  fire. 

The  first  thing  he  did  in  the  way  of  cooking  was  to 
roast  some  rabbit  meat  on  a  spit  or  forked  stick  held  in  his 
hand  over  the  fire.  Nothing  Robinson  had  ever  eaten  was 
to  be  compared  to  this. 

"I  can  do  many  things  now,"  thought  Robinson.  "My 
work  will  not  be  nearly  so  hard.  My  fire  will  be  my  ser- 
vant and  help  me  make  my  tools  as  well  as  cook  my  food. 
I  can  now  cook  my  corn  and  rice." 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Lightning. 

(b)  How  Indians  produced  fire.  The  Eskimos.  The  primitive 
or  early  men.  Name  the  uses  of  fire  to  men.  What  use  besides 
melting  metals,  warmth,  and  cooking  food  did  primitive  men  make 
of  it  ?     Why  are  animals  afraid  of  fire  ? 

Can  you  think  of  ways  of  improving  Robinson's  method  of  getting 
fire  ?  Do  you  know  whether  any  races  of  men  now  use  Robinson's 
method? 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


"S 


PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  Represent  the  scene  when  Robinson  succeeds  in  getting  fire. 

(b)  Make  Robinson's  tools  for  producing  fire  and  try  to  get  it 
in  the  manner  described. 


KOBINSON's   tools   for  UAKiNU   FUtK 


XXVIII 
ROBINSON  MAKES  BASKETS 

PREPARATION 

Now  that  Robinson  is  making  ready  for  a  time  when  he  can  not 
get  food,  how  or  in  what  can  he  store  his  com  and  other  grains? 
Will  they  not  spoil  if  put  on  the  floor  of  the  cave?  How  do  you 
think  Robinson  will  meet  this  new  need?  In  what  kind  of  vessels 
do  we  store  away  our  grains  and  vegetables?  What  kind  of  vessels 
would  be  easiest  for  Robinson  to  make?  Out  of  what  materials  can 
he  best  make  vessels?  Could  he  make  them  of  stone?  Would 
shells  of  cocoanut  be  large  enough  ? 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson  still  continued  anxious  about  his  food  supply 
when  he  could  no  longer  gather  it  fresh  from  the  fields 
and  forest.  Corn  had  again  become  ripe.  He  had 
found  in  a  wet  marshy  place  some  wild  rice-plants  loaded 
with  ripened  grain.  As  he  now  had  fire  he  only  had  to 
have  some  way  of  storing  up  grains  and  he  would  not  lack 
for  food.  He  knew  that  grain  stored  away  must  be  kept 
dry  and  that  he  must  especially  provide  against  dampness 
in  his  cave  or  in  his  bower. 

If  he  only  had  some  baskets.     These  would  be  just  the 

thing.     But  how  was  he  to  get  them?     Robinson  had 

never  given  a  thought  to  either  material  or  the  method  of 

making   them.    He,   however,   was  gradually  acquiring 

126 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  127 

skill  and  confidence  in  himself.  So  far  he  had  managed 
to  meet  all  his  wants.  He  had  invented  tools  and  made 
his  own  clothes  and  shelter,  and,  "Now,"  said  he  to  him- 
self, "I  will  solve  the  new  problem.  I  must  first  study 
the  materials  that  I  have  at  hand."  He  remembered  the 
splint  market  baskets  in  which  his  father  took  vegetables 
home  from  the  store.  He  recalled  how  the  thin  splints 
were  woven. 

"They  went  over  and  under,"  he  said.  "That  is 
simple  enough  if  I  had  the  splints."  He  set  himself, 
diligently  to  work  to  find  a  plant  whose  bark  or  split; 
branches  could  be  used  for  splints.  He  tried  to  peel  off 
the  rough  outer  bark  of  several  trees  in  order  to  examine 
the  inner  layers  of  soft  fibrous  material.  He  found  several 
trees  that  gave  promise  of  furnishing  abundance  of  long, 
thin  strips,  but  the  labor  of  removing  the  bark  with  his 
rude  imperfect  tools  was  so  great  that  he  resolved  that  he 
would  have  to  find  some  other  kind  of  material.  "Why 
need  the  strips  be  flat?"  he  thought.  "I  believe  T  could 
weave  them  in  the  same  way  if  I  used  the  long,  thin, 
tough  willow  rods  I  saw  growing  by  the  brookside,  when 
I  was  returning  from  my  journey." 

He  found  on  trial  that  the  weaving  went  very  well,  but 
that  he  must  have  strong,  thick  rods  or  ribs  running  up 
and  down  to  give  strength  and  form  to  his  basket.  He 
worked  hard,  but  it  was  slow  work.  It  was  three  days 
before  his  first  basket  was  done.  He  made  many  mis- 
takes and  was  obliged  many  times  to  undo  what  he 
had  accomplished  in  order  to  correct  some  error.  And 
at  last  when  he  had  woven  the  basket  as  large  as  he  thought 
was  suitable  for  his  purpose,  he  did  not  know  how  to 
stop  or  finish  the  top  so  as  to  keep  the  basket  from  un- 
raveling.   At  last  he  hit  upon  the  plan  of  fastening  two 


128  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

stout  rods,  one  outside,  the  other  inside,  the  basket.  These 
he  sewed  firmly,  over  and  over,  to  the  basket  with  a  kind 
of  fibre  ?rom  a  plant  he  had  discovered  that  looked  almost 
to  be  what  he  had  heard  called  the  century  plant  in  the 
parks  at  home. 

On  attempting  his  next  basket  he  thought  long  how  he 
might  improve  and  save  time.  He  must  hasten,  or  the 
now  almost  daily  rains  would  destroy  his  ripened  wild 
corn  and  rice. 

"If  I  could  use  coils  of  that  long  grass,  I  saw  growing  in 
the  marsh  beside  the  rice,"  he  thought,  "  I  could  make  twice 
the  progress.  He  gathered  an  armful,  twisted  it  into 
cables  about  an  inch  thick  and  wove  it  into  his  frame 
of  upright  rods  instead  of  the  horizontal  layer  of  willow 
canes.  This  answered  his  purpose  just  as  well  and 
rendered  the  making  of  large  baskets  the  work  of  a  few 
hours.  He  found,  however,  that  the  willow  rods  or  osiers 
were  not  pliant  enough  to  work  well  in  fastening  his  coils 
of  grass  cables  together.  He  tried  several  things  and  at 
last  succeeded  best  when  he  used  the  long  thread-like 
fibre  of  the  century-like  plant.  He  had,  however,  to  make 
a  stout  framework  of  rods.  He  would  first  coil  his  grass 
rope  into  this  frame  and  then  sew  it  together  with  twine 
or  thread  made  from  this  fibre. 

He  afterwards  tried  making  smaller  and  finer  baskets 
out  of  the  fibre  that  he  had  discovered,  which  could  be 
easily  had  from  the  thick-leaved  plant  he  thought  he  had 
seen  at  home.  He  first  used  long,  tough,  fine  roots  he 
had  seen  when  digging  up  the  tree  at  the  mouth  of  his 
cave.  Afterwards  he  discovered  some  tall,  tough  reeds 
growing  near  by.  He  laid  in  a  supply  of  these.  He 
found  that  when  he  wanted  to  use  them,  a  good  soaking  in 
water  made  them  as  pliable  and  tough  as  when  first  cut. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  129 

The  making  of  the  baskets  and  storing  up  grains  made 
it  possible  for  Robinson  to  become  a  farmer  and  thus 
make  himself  independent.  This  thought  was  a  great 
relief  to  him. 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Do  you  know  the  agave  plant  ?  It  is  a  native  of  Mexico  and 
the  tropics.  From  it  we  get  sisal,  a  long,  coarse  fibre  out  of  which 
we  make  twine  and  coarse  cloths.  Maybe  it  was  a  species  of  the 
agave  that  Robinson  found  yielding  a  fibre.  Do  you  know  from 
what  plant  v/e  get  raffia? 

(b)  Do  we  use  willow  rods  for  making  baskets  ?  Have  you  seen 
baskets  made  of  them  ?  Name  the  diflferent  materials  you  have  seen 
in  baskets  and  let  us  write  them  down.  Have  you  seen  Indian 
baskets?  What  material  do  they  use  ?  Are  they  not  skillfully  woven? 
Some  Indians  weave  baskets  in  the  same  manner  that  Robinson  did 
and  weave  them  so  carefully  that  they  will  hold  water.  Indian 
women  make  beautiful  baskets.  They  ornament  them  in  many 
ways.  They  weave  in  plants  and  animal  forms  by  using  different 
colored  fibres. 

Do  you  think  the  making  of  baskets  an  important  event  in  Robin- 
son's island  life?  Tell  the  use  of  baskets  and  the  changes  it  made 
possible  in  his  ways  of  living.  The  carrying  and  storing  up  food 
stufl^,  nuts  and  grains,  vegetables  and  roots  are  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance to  good  living.  What  animals  store  up  foods?  How  is 
it  carried  ?    See  "  First  Steps  in  Human  Progress,"  Chapter  V. 


I30  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

PROBLEMS    TO    WORK    OUT 

(a)  Can  you  make  an  accurate  drawing  of  the  kind  of  basket 
Robinson  wove?  Try  it.  Represent  Robinson  at  work  on  his 
baskets. 

(b)  Make  a  basket  after  Robinson's  first  pattern.  Try  one 
using  twisted  fibre  grasses  or  rafiia  or  bark. 


kobinson's  baskets 


XXIX 

ROBINSON  BECOMES  A  FARMER 

PREPARATION 

Tell  what  changes  Robinson  will  now  make  in  his  getting  food. 
How  do  we  get  our  food  ?  Does  the  com  and  grain  we  use  for  food 
grow  wild?  Wild  plants  did  not  yield  very  much  for  Robinson 
nor  did  he  always  know  where  to  find  it. 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson  had  now  been  on  the  island  long  enough  to 
know  how  the  seasons  changed.  He  found  that  there  were 
two  kinds  of  weather  there,  wet  weather  and  dry  weather. 
There  were  two  wet  seasons  in  each  year  and  two  dry 
ones.  During  the  wet  seasons,  which  lasted  nearly  three 
months,  Robinson  had  to  remain  pretty  closely  at  home, 
and  could  not  gather  grain,  for  the  plants  were  then  start- 
ing from  the  seeds.  It  ripened  in  the  dry  seasons.  Rob- 
inson soon  found  that  he  must  have  a  store  of  corn  and 
wild  rice  for  food  during  the  rainy  seasons.  He,  however, 
knew  nothing  about  planting  and  harvesting,  nor  prepar- 
ing the  ground  for  seed. 

He  had  it  all  to  learn  with  no  teacher  or  books  to  in- 
struct him.  He  found  a  little  space  near  his  dwelling 
free  from  trees  and  thought  he  would  plant  some  corn 
seed  here.    He  did  not  know  the  proper  time  for  plant- 

131 


132  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

ing.  He  thought  because  it  was  warm  seed  would  grow 
at  any  time.  It  happened  his  first  seed  was  put  in  at  the 
beginning  of  the  dry  season.  He  watched  and  waited  to 
rejoice  his  eyes  with  the  bright  green  of  sprouting  corn,  but 
the  seed  did  not  grow.  There  was  no  rain  and  the  sun's 
heat  parched  the  land  till  it  was  dry  and  hard  on  the  up- 
land where  his  corn  was  planted. 

"Very  well,"  thought  Robinson, "  I  will  plant  it  at  the  be- 
giiming  of  the  wet  season,  either  in  March  or  September." 
He  did  so,  the  seed  quickly  sprouted  up.  But  the  weeds, 
shrubs  and  vines  sprouted  as  quickly  and  before  Robin- 
son was  aware,  his  corn  was  overgrown  and  choked  out 
by  a  rank  growth  of  weeds  and  vines.  "I  see,"  said 
Robinson,  "that  I  must  thoroughly  prepare  the  soil  be- 
fore planting  my  seed."  But  he  had  no  spade  and  no 
other  tool  that  would  stand  the  strain  of  digging  among 
tough  matted  roots.  But  he  must  succeed.  He  put  a 
new  handle  in  the  stone  hoe  or  pick  he  had  already  made. 
His  mussel  shell  spade  was  worn  out.  He  must  set  him- 
self to  fashion  out  another.  He  decided  to  make  one 
from  the  tough  heavy  wood  of  a  tree  that  grew  plentifully 
in  the  forest. 

He  was  lucky  enough  to  find  a  tree  of  this  kind  whose 
bole  had  been  split  lengthwise  by  the  falling  of  an  old 
rotten  tree  near  it.  With  his  stone  tools  and  the  help  of 
fire  he  managed  after  several  days'  work  to  make  a  wide 
sharpened  tool  out  of  one  of  the  large  pieces  split  off. 
It  was  a  little  over  three  feet  long.  He  had  trimmed 
one  end  small  and  cut  notches  in  the  sides  about  one  foot 
from  the  flat  end.  He  could  place  his  foot  in  the  notch 
and  thrust  his  wooden  spade  into  the  earth.  With  his 
rude  tool  he  dug  up  and  turned  the  soil  of  a  small  space 
of  ground  several  times  to  kill  the  vines  and  weeds.    His 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  133 

corn  quickly  sprouted  after  this  attempt  and  outstripped 
the  weeds  and  vines  which  Robinson  constantly  had  to 
hold  in  check  by  pulling  and  hoeing.  He  was  rejoiced 
at  his  growing  crop  and  went  each  morning  to  feast  his 
eyes  on  the  rapidly  expanding  leaves  and  ears. 

One  morning  as  he  came  in  sight  of  the  little  clearing 
he  thought  he  saw  something  disappearing  in  the  low 
brush  on  the  other  side  as  he  approached.  Alas,  his  labor 
had  been  in  vain!  A  herd  of  wild  goats  had  found  out 
the  place  and  had  utterly  destroyed  his  crop.  Robinson 
sat  down  nearby  and  surveyed  the  ruin  of  his  little  field. 
"It  is  plain,"  thought  he,  *'I  will  have  to  fence  in  the  field 
or  I  will  never  be  able  to  harvest  my  crop.  I  cannot  watch 
it  all  the  time." 

He  had  already  learned  from  his  experience  in  making 
the  fence  around  the  goat  pasture  that  the  branches  of 
many  kinds  of  shrubs  and  trees,  when  broken  off  and 
thrust  into  the  ground,  will  send  out  roots  and  leaves 
and  at  length  if  planted  close  together  in  a  line,  will 
form  a  thick  hedge  which  no  kind  of  beast  can  get  through 
or  over.  He  found  out  some  willow  trees  where  branches 
broke  easily  and  soon  had  enough  to  thrust  into  the 
ground  about  six  inches  apart  around  the  entire  edge  of 
his  little  field,  which  contained  about  one  eighth  of  an 
acre. 

After  this  hedge  had  grown  so  as  to  be  a  fair  protection 
to  his  crop  he  tried  planting  again  at  the  proper  season. 
He  spaded  up  the  ground  and  pulled  out  the  matted  roots 
as  best  he  could  and  with  great  pains  and  care  planted  his 
corn  in  straight  even  rows.  To  make  them  straight  and 
each  hill  of  corn  the  same  distance  from  its  neighbors, 
he  first  marked  off  the  ground  in  squares  whose  sides  were 
about  three  and  one  half  feet  long. 


134  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

"Now,"  thought  he,  "I  will  reap  the  reward  of  my 
labor."  The  corn  grew  rapidly,  and  toward  the  end  of 
the  first  dry  season  was  filling  out  and  ripening  its  ears. 
But  to  Robinson's  dismay  a  new  danger  threatened  his 
crop  against  which  he  could  not  fence.  He  was  in  de- 
spair. The  birds  were  fast  eating  and  destroying  his 
partially  ripened  corn.  He  could  not  husk  it  yet.  It  was 
not  ripe  enough.  He  thought  how  easy  it  would  be  to 
protect  his  field  if  he  had  a  gun.  But  he  had  learned 
that  it  is  useless  to  give  time  to  idle  dreaming.  He  must 
do  something  and  that  quick. 

"If  I  could  catch  some  of  these  rascals,"  he  thought. 
"I  would  hang  them  up  on  poles, dead,  as  a  warning  to  the 
rest."  It  seemed  almost  a  hopeless  task,  but  he  went  about 
it.  It  was  in  vain  he  tried  to  kill  some  of  them  by  throw- 
ing rocks  and  sticks.  He  could  not  get  near  enough  to 
them.  At  length  he  laid  snares  and  succeeded  in  snaring 
three  birds.  He  had  learned  to  weave  a  pliable,  strong 
thong  out  of  cocoa  and  other  fibre  that  he  was  now  ac- 
quainted with.  The  birds  thus  caught  he  fastened  on 
broken  branches  of  trees  which  he  stuck  into  the  earth 
in  different  parts  of  his  field.  The  birds  heeded  the 
warning  and  visited  his  corn  field  no  more  that  season. 

At  the  end  of  the  season  he  gathered  or  husked  his 
corn  and  after  it  was  thoroughly  dry  he  shelled  it  from 
the  cob  with  his  hands.  He  used  his  baskets  in  which 
to  carry  his  husked  ears  from  the  field  to  his  cave  and  in 
which  to  store  it  when  shelled.  He  found  that  the  ears 
were  larger  and  better  filled  and  plumper  than  when  the 
plants  grew  wild.  He  selected  the  largest  and  best  filled 
ears  for  his  seed  the  next  time.  In  this  way  his  new  crop 
of  corn  was  always  better  in  kind  and  yielded  more  than 
the  old  one. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  13S 

At  first  he  grew  two  crops  a  year,  but  by  experimenting 
he  found  out  about  how  much  he  needed  for  his  own  use 
and  planted  once  a  year  enough  to  give  him  a  liberal  sup- 
ply. 

He  observed  that  the  wild  rice  grew  in  swampy  lands, 
so  that  he  did  not  make  the  mistake  of  trying  to  raise  it 
upon  the  upland  where  the  corn  grew  best.  He  saw  at 
once  that  the  planting  of  rice  on  low,  marshy  or  wet  land 
was  beyond  his  present  strength  and  tools.  "Some  time 
in  the  future,"  he  thought,  "I  may  try  it." 

Robinson  also  found  wild  grapes  in  abundance.  These 
he  dried  by  hanging  them  on  the  branches  of  trees.  He 
thus  had  a  store  of  raisins  for  each  rainy  season. 

THINGS    TO    THINK    AND    TALK    ABOUT 

(a)  The  seasons  and  changes  in  occupations.  Do  we  have 
regular  seasons  of  wet  and  dry  weather?  Do  the  winds  always 
blow  from  one  direction  ?  They  blow  from  one  direction  in  the  hot 
zones.     Keep  a  daily  weather  record. 

(b)  Name  the  grains  that  farmers  plant.  How  does  the  farmer 
plant  com  and  the  grains?  Wheat,  rye,  oats?  How  does  he  pre- 
pare the  soil  ?  He  almost  always  puts  in  the  soil  some  kind  of  plant 
food.  Robinson's  soil  was  rich  with  plant  food.  Have  you  seen 
corn  gathered  or  harvested  ?  Sometimes  it  is  husked  as  it  is  gathered. 
How  are  wheat  and  other  grains  gathered  from  the  field?  Robin- 
son probably  gathered  the  heads  of  rice  and  rubbed  out  the  grains 
from  among  the  chaffy  covering  in  his  hands.  Farmers  have  great 
machines  run  by  steam  for  threshing  out  grain  from  the  straw  and 
chaflf.     Different  ways  of  threshing  in  historical  series,  etc. 

(c)  Is  not  Robinson  to  be  commended  for  keeping  at  his  work 
of  raising  com  until  he  succeeded?  Was  he  discouraged?  Did  he 
give  up?  We  call  keeping  at  a  thing  until  it  is  done  perseverance. 
How  many  times  did  Robinson  try  before  he  succeeded?  He  had 
to  work  hard  and  try  again.  Motto:  "Jf  at  first  you  don't  suc- 
ceed, try,  try  again." 


136  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

PROBLEMS    TO   WORK   OUT 

(a)  Make  a  landscape  showing  Robinson  at  work  in  his  field 
with  his  spade. 

(b)  Find  by  putting  com  on  damp  blotting  paper,  how  long  it  is 
in  sprouting. 


XXX 

ROBINSON   AS   POTTER 

PREPARATION 

Do  you  think  of  anything  Robinson  now  must  have  before  he  can 
cook  his  food?  What  kind  of  vessels  do  we  use  in  which  to  boil 
water  and  cook  foods  ?  Can  Robinson  make  vessels  of  iron  ?  Do 
you  think  of  any  way  he  can  get  vessels  in  which  to  boil  water  and 
cook  food  ? 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson  was  now  anxious  to  cook  his  food,  to  boil  his 
rice  and  vegetables  and  bake  bread,  but  he  could  do  noth- 
ing without  cooking  vessels.  He  had  tried  to  use  cocoa- 
nut  shells,  but  these  were  too  small  and  there  was  no  way 
to  keep  them  from  falling  over  and  spilling  the  contents. 
He  determined  to  try  to  make  some  clay  vessels.  He 
knew  where  he  could  get  a  kind  of  clay  that  had  the  ap- 
pearance of  making  good  ware.  It  was  fine  grained  and 
without  lumps  or  pebbles.  He  was  much  perplexed  to 
mould  the  clay  into  right  shapes.  He  tried  taking  a  lump 
and  shaping  it  into  a  vessel  with  his  hands.  He  tried 
many  times,  but  each  time  the  clay  broke  and  he  was 
forced  to  try  some  other  way.  He  recalled  how  he  had 
made  his  basket  out  of  strands  of  twisted  grass  and 
wondered  whether  he  could  not  make  his  pots  in  the  same 
way. 

137 


ijS  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

He  spun  the  clay  out  into  a  long  rope  and  began  to  coil 
it  around  a  small  basket  forming  the  layers  together  with 
his  hands.  This  was  easy,  but  he  did  not  see  clearly  how 
he  was  going  to  get  the  basket  out  from  the  inside  of  the 
pot.  He  found  he  could  copy  in  this  way  any  form  he 
wished,  but  he  finally  hit  upon  the  plan  of  making  a  form 
of  wicker  work  and  coiling  the  clay  rope  inside  it,  for  he 
saw  that  whether  he  succeeded  or  not  in  getting  the  clay 
free  from  the  basket  he  could  use  the  pot,  and  besides  if  the 
pot  would  stand  the  fire  the  basket  would  burn  off.  To 
dry  the  pots  Robinson  stood  them  in  the  sun  a  few  days. 
When  they  were  dry  he  tried  to  cook  some  soup  in  one  of 
them.  He  filled  it  with  water  and  put  it  on  his  stove  or 
oven,  but  how  sadly  had  he  deceived  himself.  In  a 
short  time  the  water  soaked  into  the  clay  and  soon  the 
pot  had  fallen  to  pieces. 

"How  foohsh  I  am!"  said  Robinson  to  himself;  "the 
pots  have  to  be  fired  before  they  can  be  used."  He  set 
about  this  at  once.  He  found  two  stones  of  equal  size 
placed  them  near  each  other  and  laid  a  third  across  these. 
He  then  placed  three  large  pots  upon  them  and  made  a 
hot  fire  under  them.  No  sooner  had  the  flame  shot  up 
than  one  of  the  pots  cracked  in  two.  "I  probably  made 
the  fire  too  hot  at  first,"  thought  Robinson. 

He  drew  out  some  of  the  coals  and  wood,  but  afterwards 
gradually  increased  the  fire  again.  He  could  not,  how- 
ever, get  the  pots  hot  enough  to  turn  red.  He  brought 
the  dryest  and  hardest  wood,  but  could  not  succeed  in 
getting  them  hot  enough  to  turn  red.  At  length  he  was 
tired  out  and  was  compelled  to  give  it  up.  When  the 
pots  were  cool  he  tried  to  boil  water  in  one.  It'  was  no 
better  than  the  sun  dried  one. 

He  saw  that  he  must  provide  some  way  to  get  the  pots 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  139 

mudi  holier  ihaii  hv  could  in  ihc  open  air.  He  resolved 
to  make  an  oven  of  stones  large  enough  to  take  in  the 
wood  as  well  as  the  pots.  It  must  be  above  ground  so 
that  there  might  be  plenty  of  draught  for  the  fire.  With 
great  labor,  he  pried  up  and  carried  together  flat  stones 
enough  to  make  an  oven  about  four  feet  high  with  a 
chimney  at  one  side.  He  had  put  in  the  center  a  stone 
table  on  which  he  could  place  three  quite  large  pots. 
He  left  an  opening  in  one  side  that  could  be  partially 
closed  by  a  large,  flat  stone. 

He  worked  eagerly  and  at  the  end  of  the  second  day  he 
was  ready  to  fire  his  oven.  He  first  carried  together  a 
good  quantity  of  dry  wood,  then  he  put  in  his  pots  and 
laid  the  wood  around  them.  In  a  short  time  he  had  a 
very  hot  fire.  He  kept  this  up  all  day  and  until  late  at 
night. 

The  next  morning  he  went  to  his  oven  and  found  his 
pots  were  a  beautiful  red .  He  drew  out  the  fire  and  allowed 
them  to  cool  slowly.  Then  he  filled  one  with  water  and 
set  it  over  the  fire  to  heat  it.  Before  many  minutes  the 
water  was  boiling  and  Robinson  had  another  reason  to  be 
thankful.  He  wept  for  joy.  His  patient  labors  had 
brought  their  rewards.  No  prince  could  feel  as  happy  as 
Robinson  now.  He  had  overcome  all  difficulties.  Start- 
ing with  nothing  but  his  hands,  he  was  now  able  to  supply 
all  his  wants.  "If  I  only  had  a  companion  now,"  he 
thought,  "I  would  have  nothing  further  to  wish  as  long 
as  I  stay  on  the  island." 


140  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

THINGS    TO    THINK    AND    TALK    ABOUT 

(b)    What  kind  of  clay  is  used  in  making  dishes? 

Have  you  seen  a  potter's  wheel?  Potters  shape  their  pots 
and  earthen  vessels  on  a  moving  wheel.  Have  you  tried  shaping 
vessels  with  your  hands  alone?  Have  you  seen  a  potter's  kiln? 
In  this  he  fires  his  vessels.  He  can  tell  by  Ihe  color  when  they  are 
hot  enough.  Did  the  Indians  make  burnt  clay  vessels?  How  did 
they  cook  food?  Do  the  Eskimos  have  earthen -ware  vessels? 
Primitive  men  made  pots  and  vessels.  We  find  broken  parts  of 
them  in  caves  and  in  river  sands. 

PROBLEMS    TO   WORK    OUT 

(a)  Make  a  drawing  of  Robinson's  oven  or  kiln. 

(b)  Try  to  shape  in  clay  a  vessel  as  Robinson  at  first  did.  Try 
the  coil  method. 


SOME  OF   ROBINSON  S   DISHES 


XXXI 

ROBINSON   AS    BAKER 

PREPARATION 

How  has  Robinson  prepared  his  com  and  rice  up  to  this?  Will 
he  not  now  try  to  bake  some  bread  ?  How  will  he  prepare  his  com 
for  making  bread  ?  Will  he  not  need  a  mill  for  grinding  his  com  ? 
Can  you  tell  how  to  make  one?  Out  of  what  material  would  you 
think  Robinson  might  make  a  mill?  Describe  the  simplest  mill 
for  making  flour,  and  tell  how  Robinson  finally  makes  flour  and 
bread. 

PRESENTATION 

Now  that  Robinson  had  fire,  he  determined  to  try  to 
make  bread.  He  had  seen  the  servants  at  home  make 
bread  many  times,  but  he  had  not  observed  closely  and 
knew  next  to  nothing  about  the  way  bread  is  made.  He 
knew  he  must  in  some  way  grind  the  corn  into  flour, 
but  how  could  he  do  this?  He  had  no  mill  nor  any  tools 
with  which  to  crush  the  corn. 

He  first  tried  to  find  a  stone  large  and  hard  enough 
out  of  which  he  might  hollow  a  vessel  or  kind  of  mortar. 
He  thought  he  could  put  the  corn  into  this  mortar  and 
grind  it  by  means  of  another  stone  or  pestle.  It  was  with 
great  difficulty  that  he  could  get  a  stone  of  suitable  size 
and  form.  After  several  days'  trial  he  at  last  got  one  cut 
out  from  some  layers  of  rock  near  the  shore.    He  made 

141 


142  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

a  hollow  place  in  it.  Then  he  took  a  smaller  oblong 
shaped  rock  for  his  pestle. 

He  took  great  pride  in  these  new  tools.  "I  shall  soon 
be  a  stone-cutter,"  he  said  to  himself,  "as  well  as  a  farmer 
and  potter."  But  his  stone  mortar  was  a  failure.  The 
rock  was  too  soft.  Every  time  he  thrust  the  pestle  down, 
it  loosened  small  pieces  of  the  stone  vessel.  These 
mixed  with  the  ground  corn  or  flour  and  made  it  unfit 
to  eat.  There  was  no  way  to  separate  the  sand  from  the 
crushed  grain. 

He  resolved  then  to  try  to  make  a  mortar  and  pestle 
of  hard  wood.  Now  that  he  had  fire,  he  could  do  this, 
though  it  cost  him  many  a  hard  day's  work.  He  found 
not  far  away  a  log  of  very  hard  wood.  By  building 
a  fire  at  the  right  distance  from  one  end  he  was  able  to 
separate  a  piece  of  the  log.  He  rolled  this  to  his  cave  and 
made  a  good-sized  hollow  in  it  by  burning.  This  pestle 
was  not  so  difficult  to  make.  He  took  a  limb  or  branch 
of  an  iron  wood  tree,  burned  it  in  two  at  the  place  to  make 
it  the  right  length.  By  burning  also  he  rounded  one  end 
and  then  he  was  ready  for  the  grinding.  After  cleaning 
his  mortar  and  pestle  carefully  he  placed  some  corn  in 
the  hollow  and  soon  had  some  fine  yellow  meal  or  flour 
without  any  grit  or  sand  in  it. 

His  next  care  w^as  to  separate  the  coarse  outer  husk  or 
covering  of  the  kernel  from  the  finer  parts  that  make  the 
meal.  He  had  no  sieve.  His  net  was  too  coarse.  It  let 
both  bran  and  meal  go  through.  "I  must  make  a  net 
or  cloth  fine  enough  to  sift  or  bolt  my  flour,"  said  he. 
Such  was  now  his  skill  in  spinning  and  weaving  that  this 
was  not  hard  to  do.  He  had  soon  woven  in  his  loom  a 
piece  of  fine  netting  which  allowed  the  meal  to  shake 
through,  but  held  back  the  coarse  bran  or  outer  husk  of 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  143 

the  kernel.  Out  of  the  dry  corn  that  he  had  stored  up 
he  now  made  quite  a  quantity  of  flour.  This  he  kept 
tightly  covered  in  a  large  earthen  pot  or  jar  that  he  had 
made  for  this  purpose.  "I  must  keep  all  my  food  clean 
and  protect  it  from  the  ants  and  other  insects  as  well  as 
dust  and  damp,"  he  thought. 

His  preparations  were  now  nearly  made.  He  had  al- 
ready his  stove  of  flat  stones.  On  this  he  could  set  his 
pots  to  boil  water,  cook  rice,  and  meat,  but  it  would  not 
do  for  baking  a  loaf  of  bread  of  any  thickness.  He  must 
have  an  oven  or  enclosed  place  into  which  he  could  put 
the  loaf  to  bake  it.  By  the  use  of  flat  stones  he  soon  re- 
built his  stove  so  as  to  have  an  oven  that  did  fine  service. 
Now  it  was  mixing  the  dough  that  claimed  his  attention. 
He  had  of  course  no  yeast  to  make  raised  or  light  bread. 
He  poured  goats'  milk  on  the  flour  and  kneaded  it  into 
a  thick  dough.  He  did  not  forget  to  add  salt.  He 
placed  his  loaf  into  a  shallow  earthen  pan  he  had  made 
for  this  purpose.  After  the  fire  had  heated  the  stones 
of  his  oven  through,  he  put  in  his  loaf  and  soon  was  en- 
joying a  meal  of  corn  bread  and  meat  stew. 

Robinson  soon  tried  to  make  cocoa  from  the  beans  of 
the  cocoa  palm  that  grew  in  the  island.  This  with  good 
rich  goats'  milk  in  it  he  thought  the  best  drink  in  the  world. 
He  often  thought  of  making  sugar  from  the  sugar  cane 
plant  he  had  discovered  in  the  island.  But  the  labor  of 
squeezing  out  the  juice  was  too  great.  He  could  think 
of  no  way  to  do  this  without  the  help  of  horses  or  oxen. 


144 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


THINGS    TO    THINK    AND    TALK    ABOUT 

(b)  From  what  do  we  get  our  chocolate  and  cocoa  ?  Tell  about 
the  source  of  sugar. 

Have  you  seen  a  flour  mill?  How  is  the  grain  ground? 
How  the  Indians  ground  corn.  What  the  parts  of  the  ground 
kernel  are  called.  Meal  and  flour.  How  mills  are  run.  Water, 
steam  pwwer. 

Why  yeast  is  used  in  making  bread.  Would  we  think  Robinson's 
bread  good?  Why  could  not  Robinson  bake  a  loaf  by  putting  it 
on  the  flat  top  of  his  stove  ? 

PROBLEMS    TO    WORK    OUT 

(c)  Make  a  drawing  of  Robinson's  stove  or  oven.  Show  Robin- 
son at  work  grinding  com  with  his  mortar  and  pestle. 


-.  a 


ROBINSON'S    FIRE   AND  OVEN 


XXXII 

ROBINSON  AS  FISHERMAN 

PREPARATION 

Can  you  think  why  Robinson  has  never  caught  fish  for  food? 
Would  not  they  be  more  easily  caught  than  goats  and  rabbits? 
Will  not  Robinson  now  think  of  catching  fish?  Can  you  imagine 
how  Robinson  might  catch  fish?  Can  he  make  a  hook?  Can  we 
catch  fish  without  a  hook?  Can  one  make  a  bone  hook?  Could 
Robinson  make  a  line  strong  enough  to  catch  fish?  Will  Robin- 
son fish  in  salt  or  fresh  water? 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson  was  now  eager  to  use  his  fire  and  cooking 
vessels.  He  had  noticed  with  hungry  eyes  fine  large  fish 
in  the  creek  near  his  cave.  But  he  had  never  taken  the 
trouble  to  catch  any.  What  is  the  use?"  he  thought.  "I 
cannot  eat  them  raw."  It  was  difi"erent  now  and  he  be- 
gan to  devise  ways  of  making  a  catch.  How  he  longed 
for  a  fish-hook,  such  as  he  had  so  often  used  when  loiter- 
ing along  the  Hudson  River!  "But  a  fish-hook  is  not  to 
be  thought  of,"  he  said  to  himself,  "unless  I  can  make 
one  of  bone."  He  went  down  to  the  brook  and  searched 
long  for  a  fish-bone  that  he  might  make  use  of  for  this 
purpose.     He  found  nothing. 

"I  must  try  something  else,"  he  thought.  He  remem- 
bered the  nets  he  used  to  see  along  the  Hudson  and  won- 

145 


146  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

dered  if  he  could  not  make  a  small  one  to  pull  through 
the  water  and  thus  catch  the  fish. 

He  had  now  a  better  source  of  fibre  for  weaving  and  for 
spinning  into  lines  and  ropes.  He  had  discovered  this 
when  he  was  trying  to  find  a  good  strong  thread  or  yarn 
with  which  to  bind  the  coils  of  his  grass-made  baskets 
together.  He  obtained  fibre  in  great  abundance  from 
the  century-like  plant.  He  found  if  he  broke  oft"  the 
long  leaves  of  this  plant  and  allowed  them  to  decay  there 
remained  a  long,  tough  fibrous  substance  out  of  which 
strong  cords  could  be  twisted  or  yam  made  for  weaving 
a  coarse  cloth  or  netting. 

Out  of  this  he  spun  yarn  thread  to  make  a  net  about  three 
or  four  feet  by  two  feet.  He  fastened  cords  to  the  four 
ends  of  this,  tied  them  to  a  long  pole,  and  was  now  pre- 
pared to  test  his  plan  for  catching  fish. 

The  brook  he  found  was  too  shallow  for  him  to  catch 
fish  in  this  way.  At  the  sight  of  him  and  his  net,  they 
scurried  away  to  deep  water.  Neither  could  he  succeed 
in  the  shallow  water  along  the  shore.  "I  must  wade  out 
as  far  as  I  can,"  he  said  to  himself,"  and  draw  the  net 
through  the  water." 

As  he  did  this  he  was  surprised  at  the  many  forms  of 
sea  life,  new  to  him,  that  he  saw.  He,  however,  was 
careful  and  watchful.  He  walked  along  near  the  shore 
to  a  point  where  some  rocks  showed  aboye  the  surface. 
As  he  looked  ahead  he  saw  the  single  eye  of  a  giant  cuttle 
fish  glaring  at  him  from  among  the  rocks.  It  was  thrust- 
ing out  its  long  arms  towards  him.  He  drew  back  quickly, 
but  as  he  did  so  he  was  terrified  to  hear  the  snap  of  some 
huge  creature's  jaws  near  him.  A  great  shark  had  seen 
him  and  had  thrown  himself  on  his  back  to  seize  him  in 
his  rows  of  sharp  teeth,  but  was  prevented  reaching  him 
by  the  shallowness  of  the  water. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  147 

Robinson  was  too  much  terriiicd  to  continue  longer  his 
attempt  at  fishing.  He  went  back  to  his  cave  with  only 
a  few  small  ones,  not  worth  the  trouble  of  dressing  for 
his  dinner. 

The  next  day  undismayed  he  tried  again.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  drawing  in  some  very  beautiful  large  fish. 
Their  sides  shone  as  burnished  gold  and  silver.  "Now," 
he  thought,  "I  will  have  a  feast."  He  carried  them  home, 
carefully  cleaned  and  dressed  them,  seasoned  them  with 
his  salt,  and  broiled  them  over  his  fire.  Imagine  his  dis- 
appointment when  they  proved  unfit  to  eat.  Their  flesh 
was  coarse  and  tough  and  ill-tasting.  He  saw  that  the 
catching  of  fish  for  his  table  was  a  more  difficult  thing 
than  he  thought  it.  He  must  not  only  catch  fish,  but  catch 
ones  that  could  be  eaten.  He  could  only  tell  the  good 
from  the  bad  by  trying  them. 

He  was  more  fortunate  in  his  next  venture.  He  was 
going  along  the  shore  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek  which  ran 
near  his  cave  when  he  noticed  a  group  of  fishes,  dark 
bluish  above  with  silvery  sides.  The  largest  of  them 
were  about  two  feet  long.  They  were  feeding  on  the 
bottom  in  the  brackish  water  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek, 
which  at  its  mouth  opened  out  into  quite  a  little  bay  or 
inlet.  They  would  take  up  a  mouthful  of  earth  from  the 
bottom  and  let  it  wash  through  their  mouths,  keeping 
all  the  bits  of  food  that  happened  to  be  in  it.  When  one 
fish  got  a  good  place  to  feed  the  others  swam  around  it 
and  tried  to  get  some  of  the  food. 

Robinson  watched  his  chance  and  slipped  his  net  under 
a  group,  while  each  one  was  busy  trying  to  get  the  best 
mouthful  of  mud.  He  drew  up  three  quite  large  fish, 
but  just  as  he  was  about  to  lift  them  from  the  water,  one 
of  the  cords  which  bound  the  net  to  the  poles  broke  and 


148  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

he  saw  his  catch  fall  back  into  the  creek  and  dart  away 
in  the  deepest  water.  But  Robinson  was  not  to  be  dis- 
couraged. He  soon  mended  his  net  and  at  last  was  suc- 
cessful.    He  soon  drew  out  another  catch  of  two  fish. 

These  proved  excellent  food  and  were  so  abundant 
as  to  furnish  Robinson  with  all  the  fish  he  wanted  as  long 
as  he  stayed  on  the  island. 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Have  you  seen  the  century  plant?  Have  you  seen  sisal 
twine  and  fibre?  It  is  used  in  making  binding,  twine.  Have  you 
seen  pictures  of  the  giant  cuttle  fish  or  squid?  Their  arms  are 
sometimes  eight  feet  long.  They  abound  in  the  rocks  around 
Robinson's  Island.  It  is  probable  that  it  was  on  account  of  the 
sharks  that  Robinson  did  not  bathe  in  the  surf  of  the  sea.  Describe 
the  shark  and  cuttle-fish.  The  fish  Robinson  caught  and  found 
excellent  food  was  a  kind  of  mullet  common  in  West  Indian  waters. 
Described  by  David  Starr  Jordan. 

(b)  What  did  the  Indians  use  with  which  to  catch  fish  ?  Did 
they  have  fish  hooks?  Did  they  use  nets?  How  do  Eskimos 
catch  fish?  Describe  the  different  instruments  for  catching  fish 
you  can  see  in  the  museum. 

(c)  Is  not  Robinson  getting  skillful?  He  can  now  do  things. 
He  knows  how  to  get  along  and  provide  for  his  own  wants. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  149 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  Make  a  drawing  of  Robinson's  fishing  net  showing  how  it 
was  attached  to  the  handle.  Show  Robinson  fishing  along  the 
shore.     Make  a  drawing  of  the  fish,  the  cuttle-fish,  and  the  shark. 

(6)  Searchoutaproperboneand  try  to  makea  fish-hook.  Weave 
a  net  and  attach  it  to  a  handle. 


ROBINSON   FISHING    WITH    HIS    NET 


XXXIII 
ROBINSON  BUILDS  A  BOAT 

PREPARATION 

Do  you  see  any  way  Robinson  can  build  or  make  a  boat  ?  Do  you 
not  suppose  he  has  wished  for  one?  Could  he  make  a  sail-boat? 
Can  he  weave  a  sail?  Is  his  loom  large  enough?  Can  he  make 
a  loom  large  enough  ?  Can  he  weave  a  cloth  heavy  and  firm  enough 
for  a  sail?  Do  you  see  other  trouble  in  the  way?  Can  he  make  a 
boat  with  his  stone  tools?  To  make  a  boat,  will  he  not  have  to  fell 
trees,  hew  out  boards  of  the  proper  thickness?  Will  this  not  be 
almost  impossible?  Do  you  think  of  any  other  way  Robinson  might 
make  a  boat?  How  will  he  make  it  go?  Can  he  make  it  on  the 
water?  How  will  he  get  it  to  the  water  when  made?  Describe 
the  way  Robinson  makes  a  boat  and  uses  it  on  the  water. 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson  had  wished  for  a  boat  many  times.  He 
wished  to  explore  the  shore  of  his  island.  He  wanted  to 
go  clear  around  it  so  that  he  might  see  it  on  every  side. 
But  he  knew  the  work  of  making  a  boat  would  be  great 
if  not  wholly  impossible. 

The  shaping  of  boards  to  build  a  boat  with  his  rude 
tools  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  He  knew  how  the  In- 
dians made  boats  out  of  bark  of  trees.  But  he  saw 
that  for  his  purpose  so  light  a  boat  would  not  do.  He 
finally  remembered  a  second  Indian  way  of  making  a 
ISO 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  151 

boat  by  hollowing  out  a  large  log.  The  forest  was  full 
of  the  boles  of  trees  that  had  been  blown  down.  But 
they  were  far  away  from  the  shore.  At  first  he  did  not 
think  of  this  very  much.  He  had  overcome  so  many 
difficulties  that  he  thought,  "Never  mind,  I  will  get  my 
boat  to  water,  no  matter  where  I  make  it,  in  some  way." 
So  he  selected  a  tree  trunk  some  distance  from  the  bank 
of  the  little  creek  near  his  cave  and  began  work.  He  had 
first  to  burn  out  his  log  the  proper  length  and  hack  it  into 
boat  shape  with  his  stone  tools.  This  was  very  slow  and 
tedious  work.  He  had  to  handle  the  fire  with  great  care 
for  there  was  always  the  danger  of  spoiling  the  shape 
of  the  slowly  forming  boat.  Both  ends  must  be  sharpened, 
but  one  more  than  the  other  to  form  the  prow  or  forward 
going  end.  After  he  had  shaped  his  boat,  he  began  hol- 
lowing it  out.  This  he  did  also  by  burning  for  the  most 
part.  He  used  the  branches  of  pitch  bearing  trees  for 
this  purpose.  But  it  was  so  slow.  He  worked  at  his 
boat  all  the  time  he  could  spare  from  his  regular  duties 
in  attending  to  his  goats,  his  garden  and  his  cave.  He 
was  always  making  his  cave  larger.  Every  time  he  made 
a  piece  of  furniture  or  stored  away  grain  he  must  make 
more  room  in  his  cave  by  digging  away  the  earth  and  carry- 
ing it  out.  He  had  made  a  large  strong  wicker  basket 
for  this  purpose. 

He  had  had  a  vague  idea  that  when  he  got  his  boat  done 
he  would  dig  a  trench  back  from  the  bank  of  the  creek 
and  thus  float  his  boat.  But  he  had  not  thought  it  out 
clearly.  "Or  anyway,"  he  thought,  "I  can  in  some  way 
manage  to  roll  it  to  the  water."  He  must  now  actually 
plan  to  put  some  of  these  ideas  into  effect.  He  first  went 
over  the  ground  and  found  that  to  dig  a  trench  from  the 
water  to  the  boat,  so  that  the  water  would  come  to  the 


15a  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

boat,  he  would  have  to  dig  it  twenty  feet  deep.  "I  can 
never  do  this,"  he  said,  "with  my  poor  tools." 

He  next  tried  his  rolling  plan.  But  he  had  been  so 
anxious  to  have  a  large  boat  that  he  had  overlooked 
everything  else.  Try  as  hard  as  he  might  he  could  not 
stir  his  boat  from  the  spot.  After  many  trials  with  the 
longest  levers  he  could  handle  the  boat  still  stuck  fast. 
It  would  not  budge  an  inch.  He  at  last  gave  it  up." 
"It  will  lie  here,"  he  thought,  "to  remind  me  how  foolish 
it  is  to  attempt  to  do  anything  without  first  having  thought 
it  out  carefully." 

There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  choose  another  tree 
trunk.  This  time  he  selected  a  much  smaller  one,  and  one 
that  lay  at  the  top  of  the  little  slope  or  incline  from  the 
bank  of  the  creek.  After  another  weary  six  months  of 
work  he  had  his  second  boat  ready  for  launching.  With 
a  good  stout  lever  he  gave  it  a  start,  when  it  rolled  quickly 
down  into  the  water.  Robinson  again  wept  for  joy. 
Of  all  his  projects  this  had  cost  him  the  most  work  and 
pains  and  at  last  to  see  his  plans  successful  filled  him  with 
delight. 

The  next  problem  was  how  to  make  it  go.  He  had  no 
certain  knowledge  how  far  it  was  around  the  island,  but 
he  knew  it  was  farther  than  he  wanted  to  row  or  paddle 
his  boat.  Yet  he  knew  from  the  way  the  wind  blew  that 
he  could  not  always  depend  upon  a  sail  to  help  him.  He 
must  become  skillful  in  paddling  his  boat.  A  sail  too 
would  be  very  helpful  at  times.  He  imagined  how 
pleasant  it  would  be  sitting  in  the  boat  sailing  along  with 
a  gentle  wind.  "  When  the  wind  is  favorable,"  he  thought, 
"I  will  only  have  to  steer  with  my  paddle." 

So  he  set  about  weaving  a  sail  of  his  sisal  fibre.  To 
do  this  he  had  to  make  a  much  larger  loom  than  he  had 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  153 

yet  used.  His  sail  must  be  at  least  four  feet  square. 
He  was  now  so  skilled  in  weaving  that  this  was  soon 
finished.  He  then  made  plenty  of  string,  cord,  and  rope, 
put  in  a  mast  and  was  ready  to  sail.  But  he  did  not 
venture  far  away  until  he  had  spent  weeks  and  weeks 
in  learning  to  steer,  sail,  and  paddle  his  boat. 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Docs  the  wind  always  blow  here  from  the  same  direction? 
It  does  in  that  part  of  the  world  where  Robinson's  Island  is.  It 
blows  from  the  northeast.  On  which  side  of  the  island  is  Robin- 
son's shelter?  On  which  side  of  the  island  would  his  ship  be 
blown  by  the  wind?     Have  you  any  idea  of  the  shape  of  the  island? 

(b)  How  the  Indians  made  boats  or  canoes,  Hiawatha.  The 
different  materials  used.  Canoes  of  birch  bark,  of  hollowed  out 
logs.  What  tools  they  used.  How  they  propelled  them.  Parts 
of  a  boat,  rudder,  prow,  stern.  Different  ways  of  propulsion,  row- 
ing, paddling,  sailing.  Names  of  different  kinds  of  boats.  Modem 
t)oats,  rowboats,  launches,  ships,  steamers,  etc.  Did  the  Indians 
use  sails? 

(c)  What  is  the  word  that  tells  how  Robinson  acted  about  his 
first  boat?  Yes  he  was  heedless,  thoughtless,  rash,  careless.  He  did 
not  sit  down  and  think  his  work  out  carefully.  He  was  not  thought- 
ful and  careful.  Robinson  has  shown  this  from  the  first.  Had  he 
not  been  rash  and  heedless  he  would  not  have  been  there.  How  are 
you  going  to  show  that  you  have  learned  to  be  thoughtful  from 
Robinson's  failure  ?  Tell  one  thing  you  are  going  to  be  more  care- 
ful about. 


1S4  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  Make  a  drawing  of  Robinson's  canoe.  Study  pictures  of 
canoes  or  may  be  you  have  seen  little  birch  bark  canoes  bought 
from  the  Indians.  Picture  Robinson  sailing  his  boat  near  the  shore. 
Make  a  careful  drawing  of  the  island  and  locate  Robinson's  shelter 
and  bower  on  it. 

(b)  Take  a  piece  of  wood  about  four  inches  square  and  eight 
inches  long  and  try  to  make  a  miniature  canoe.  Weave  a  sail  and 
cordage.     Make  a  mast  and  set  it. 


ROBINSON    SAILING    HIS   BOAT 


XXXIV 
ROBINSON  AS  A  SAILOR 

PREPARATION 

What  do  you  think  Robinson  will  now  do  with  his  boat?  When 
will  he  go?  What  would  you  do  with  it?  Do  you  think  he  has 
any  notion  of  escaping  from  the  island?  Would  it  be  safe  to  start 
out  for  the  nearest  land  in  so  small  a  boat?  What  danger  would 
there  be?  If  Robinson's  shelter  is  on  the  southeast  comer  which 
way  should  he  go  to  sail  around  his  island,  so  that  he  may  have  the 
help  of  the  wind  ?  Is  there  danger  of  being  blown  out  to  sea  ?  Will 
he  not  need  to  be  careful  of  that  ?     Will  he  start  North  or  South  ? 

What  will  he  see  on  a  journey?  Will  the  shore  be  high  and 
rocky  all  the  way?  Or  low  with  sandy  beaches?  Will  not  the 
shore  be  lower  and  the  wind  more  gentle  on  the  West  side  of  the 
Island  ? 

Write  a  description  of  Robinson's  journey  around  the  island. 

PRESENTATION 

Ever  since  Robinson  had  finished  his  boat  he  had  been 
eager  to  make  a  tour  of  his  island.  He  had  indeed  made 
a  journey  by  land.  But  the  deep  forests  and  tangled 
vines  made  it  very  difficult  to  travel.  His  journeys  had 
shown  him  but  a  small  part  of  the  land.  He  wished  to 
know  all  about  the  land  of  which  he,  so  far  as  he  knew, 
was  the  sole  master. 

His  first  care  was  to  fit  up  his  boat  with  provisions. 
155 


156  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

He  made  some  large  baskets  in  which  to  carry  food  and  a 
large  covered  jar  for  water.  These  he  stored  in  the  bow 
and  the  stem  of  his  boat.  He  fastened  his  parasol  on  the 
stern  for  a  shelter  from  the  sun.  He  baked  up  a  quantity 
of  cakes  or  loaves  of  bread  and  packed  them  in  his  bas- 
kets. He  had  woven  these  so  carefully  that  they  would 
almost  hold  water. 

At  last  all  was  ready.  It  was  on  the  sixth  day  of 
November  in  the  sixth  year  of  his  life  on  the  island  that 
Robinson  hoisted  his  sail  and  set  out  upon  his  voyage  of 
discovery.  He  had  waited  until  the  wind  was  gentle 
and  blowing  as  far  easterly  as  it  does  at  that  place.  He 
scudded  along  bravely  running  with  the  land  toward  the 
East  and  North.  All  went  well  until  he  came  to  a  low 
reef  or  ledge  of  rocks  nmning  far  out  to  sea  in  a  north- 
easterly direction. 

When  Robinson  observed  this  he  went  on  shore  and 
climbed  to  a  high  point  to  see  if  it  was  safe  to  venture. 
He  was  afraid  of  hidden  currents,  or  streams  of  water. 
These  might  carry  him  away  from  the  shore  and  prevent 
him  from  getting  around  the  point. 

He  did  indeed  observe  that  there  was  a  current  running 
out  to  sea  past  the  ledge,  but  he  thought  he  could  by  care- 
ful paddling  keep  his  boat  from  striking  the  rock.  If 
he  could  once  get  beyond  the  ledge,  the  wind  would  help 
him  double  or  get  around  the  point.  Indeed  the  danger 
was  that  the  wind  would  blow  him  on  to  the  rocks. 

He  waited  for  two  days  for  a  gentle  wind.  At  last 
without  sail  he  pushed  his  boat  into  the  current  and  was 
born  swiftly  seaward.  He  found  the  current  much 
stronger  than  he  thought  it  would  be.  It  rushed  his 
frail  boat  on  past  the  point  of  the  rocks  and  out  into 
the  sea.    Try  as  best  he  might  he  could  not  change  its 


THE  TEACHER'S  .ROBINSON  CRUSOE  157 

course.  He  was  steadily  going  out  to  sea.  He  gave 
himself  up  for  lost.  He  reproached  himself  for  being  so 
rash  and  foolhardy  as  to  trust  his  fortunes  in  so  frail  a 
craft.  How  dear  at  this  time  seemed  the  island  to  him! 
The  wind  which  he  had  depended  on  to  help  him  at  this 
point  had  died  down  so  that  it  was  at  the  mercy  of  the 
current.  He  kept  urging  his  boat  to  the  westward  as  much 
as  possible  with  all  his  strength  hoping  that  a  breeze  would 
fmally  spring  up. 

He  struggled  on  bravely  until  about  noon.  He  had  been 
carried  out  a  great  distance  into  the  sea,  but  not  so  far 
as  to  lose  sight  of  the  land.  All  at  once  he  felt  the  breeze 
freshening  up.  It  caught  his  sail  and  soon  his  boat  was 
cutting  across  the  current.  He  did  not  have  to  go  far 
before  he  was  free  from  it  and  making  headway  for  the 
island,  which  he  reached  about  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. 

He  found  himself  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  island, 
but  before  long  the  shore  ran  away  to  the  southward 
again.  He  ran  briskly  along  the  west  side  until  he  found 
a  Uttle  bay  or  cove.  He  determined  to  enter  this,  draw 
up  his  boat  on  shore  and  make  his  way  back  home  across 
the  island  on  foot.  He  was  almost  exhausted  with  his 
great  labor  and  worn  out  with  anxiety. 

In  the  centre  of  the  arms  of  the  cove  he  found  a  little 
creek  entering  the  sea.  He  paddled  into  this  and  found 
a  good  place  to  hide  his  boat. 

As  soon  as  Robinson  was  again  on  land  he  fell  on  his 
knees  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes  thanked  God  for  his  de- 
liverance. The  island  which  had  seemed  to  him  a  prison 
now  seemed  the  fairest  and  dearest  place  in  the  world. 

Having  made  his  boat  safe  he  started  back  toward  his 
shelter.     But  he  was  too  tired  to  go  far.    He  soon  came 


IS8  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

to  a  little  grove  of  trees  beneath  which  he  laid  himself 
down  and  soon  was  fast  asleep. 

You  can  imagine  with  what  surprise  Robinson  was 
awakened  out  of  his  sleep  by  a  voice  calling  his  name. 
"Robinson,  Robinson  Crusoe,"  it  said,  "poor  Robin- 
son Cruose!  Where  are  you  Robinson,  where  have  you 
been?" 

He  was  so  fast  asleep  that  he  did  not  at  first  rouse  up 
entirely  and  thought  he  was  dreaming.  But  the  voice 
kept  calling,  "Robinson,  Robinson,  poor  Robinson 
Crusoe!"  He  was  greatly  frightened  and  started  up. 
But  no  sooner  were  his  eyes  opened  then  he  saw  his  parrot 
sitting  on  a  branch  of  a  tree.  He  knew  at  once  the  source 
of  the  voice. 

Polly  had  missed  her  master  and  was  also  exploring  the 
island.  It  was  a  pleasant  surprise.  She  immediately 
flew  to  him  and  lit  on  his  shoulder.  She  showed  in  many 
ways  how  glad  she  was  to  see  him  and  kept  saying,  "Poor 
Robinson,  poor  Robinson  Crusoe!" 

Robinson  remained  here  over  night  and  the  next  morn- 
ing made  his  way  back  to  the  shelter.  Up  to  this  time 
Robinson  had  never  seen  any  dangerous  animals  on  the 
island.  He  had  grown  used  to  life  there  and  went  about 
without  fear  of  animals.  But  as  he  was  returning  across 
a  little  opening,  he  saw  a  clump  of  palms  in  the  centre 
of  the  opening,  swaying  about.  He  did  not  at  first  see 
what  caused  this,  but  soon  there  was  thrust  out  the  head 
of  a  great  serpent.  Its  jaws  were  open  and  its  eyes  were 
fixed  on  a  poor  terrified  little  rabbit.  The  rabbit  seemed 
rooted  to  the  spot.  It  could  not  stir  a  muscle  and  was 
soon  caught  in  the  folds  of  the  great  snake. 

This  sight  made  Robinson  greatly  afraid.  He  wanted 
to  rush  to  the  rescue  of  the  rabbit,  but  what  could  he  do 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  159 

against  such  a  foe?  He  resolved  in  the  future  to  keep 
a  more  careful  watch  and  always  to  sleep  in  his  bower. 

Robinson  had  enough  of  exploring  for  some  time. 
He  was  contented  to  remain  at  home.  He  made  many 
things  he  needed.  He  had  saved  all  the  skins  of  the 
goats  he  had  killed  for  meat  and  all  that  had  died  from 
any  cause.  These  he  made  into  rugs  for  his  bed.  He 
kept  at  his  loom  too,  for  he  was  anxious  to  weave  enough 
of  his  coarse  cloth  to  make  him  a  suit  of  clothes.  He 
learned  how  to  braid  mats  and  rugs  out  of  his  fibre,  and 
finally  replaced  his  awkward  hat  and  parasol  with  others 
braided  very  skillfully  from  the  long  grasses  that  grew 
so  abundantly  in  the  marshy  places. 

Another  thing  that  Robinson  was  now  able  to  make 
or  weave  out  of  his  fibre  was  a  hammock.  He  had  slept 
all  this  time  on  a  bed  made  of  poles  laid  lengthwise  and 
thickly  covered  with  the  skins  of  goats  and  rabbits. 

Now  he  could  have  a  comfortable  place  to  sleep.  He 
did  not  stop  until  he  had  made  two.  One  was  for  the 
bower  and  the  other  was  for  use  out-of-doors.  When  his 
work  was  done  in  the  evening  or  in  the  heat  of  the  mid- 
day he  would  lie  in  it  at  full  length  under  the  shade  of 
the  trees. 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Winds,  regular  or  constant.  Wind-zones,  ocean  currents, 
snakes  that  crush  their  prey,  boa  constrictors. 

(b)  How  do  sail-boats  sail  against  the  wind?  Could  Robinson 
have  sailed  around  the  island  starting  in  the  other  direction  ?  Would 
there  not  have  been  more  danger  from  being  blown  out  to  sea  ?  Do 
you  not  think  that  Robinson  cherished  the  secret  hope  that  he  might 
make  his  escape  from  the  island  ? 

Would  not  the  western  side  of  the  island  have  been  a  pleasanter 
place  for  Robinson's  abode? 

Do  you  know  of  any  other  man  that  made  a  voyage  of  discovery? 


i6o  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(c)  Make  a  drawing  of  Robinson's  boat  rigged  out  from  model 
you  have  made. 

Picture  Robinson  on  his  voyage  of  discovery. 

(b)  Make  provision  baskets  and  vsrater  jar  for  your  model  of 
Robinson's  boat;  also  paddle,  cordage  and  anchor. 


XXXV 
A   DISCOVERY 

PREPARATION 

Do  you  think  that  Robinson  has  found  out  all  about  the  island  ? 
Do  you  suppose  it  is  entirely  unknown  to  other  men,  savages  or 
Indians?  Will  not  savage  men  from  the  mainland  visit  it?  Will 
not  ships  go  by  and  perhaps  some  of  them  stop  to  see  the  island  ? 

Which  side  of  the  island  was  toward  the  mainland?  Was  the 
land  east  or  west  of  the  island  ?  Write  a  story  about  Robinson's 
meeting  savage  Indians  and  what  happened. 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson  could  not  forget  his  boat.  It  seemed  a  com- 
panion. "It  may  be  the  means  of  my  escape  from  this 
place,"  he  thought.  He  took  frequent  journeys  across 
the  island  to  where  his  little  boat  lay  in  the  cove.  He 
would  start  out  in  the  morning  and  walk  over  to  the  west 
side  of  the  island,  take  his  boat  and  have  a  pleasant  little 
sail.  He  always  returned  home  before  dark,  for  to  tell 
the  truth,  Robinson  was  a  coward.  He  was  as  timid  as 
a  hare.  He  was  afraid  of  everything  and  spent  many 
nights  without  sleep  because  of  fear. 

It  was  while  on  one  of  his  visits  to  his  boat  that  Robin- 
son made  a  discovery  that  changed  his  whole  life.  It 
happened  one  day,  about  noon  when  he  was  going  toward 
his  boat  that  he  with  great  surprise  saw  the  print  of  a  man's 

i6i 


i62  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

naked  foot  on  the  shore  in  the  sand.  He  stood  like  one 
rooted  to  the  ground.  He  could  not  move,  so  great  was 
his  surprise  and  fear.  He  listened,  looked  around,  but 
could  hear  nor  see  nothing.  He  went  up  to  a  little  hill 
to  look  further,  but  nothing  was  in  sight.  There  was  but 
the  one  footprint.  There  was  no  doubt  about  it,  there 
it  was,  foot,  toes,  heel  and  every  part  of  a  foot.  Robin- 
son tried  to  think  how  it  might  have  gotten  there,  but  he 
could  not.  It  was  a  mystery.  He  was  greatly  afraid 
and  started  at  once  for  his  shelter.  He  ran  like  one  pur- 
sued. At  every  little  way  he  would  look  behind  to  see 
if  anyone  was  following  him. 

Never  a  frightened  rabbit  ran  to  his  hiding  place  with 
more  terror  than  Robinson  ran  to  his  cave.  He  did  not 
sleep  that  night  for  fear  and  remained  in  his  shelter  for 
three  days,  never  venturing  out.  But  his  food  was  growing 
short  and  his  goats  needed  to  be  milked.  He  finally 
with  a  thousand  wild  fancies  forced  himself  to  go  about 
his  duties. 

But  he  could  not  get  the  footprint  out  of  his  mind.  He 
spent  many  sad  and  fearful  days  thinking  about  it.  "How 
could  it  have  gotten  there?  Whose  was  it?  Was  the 
owner  savage  or  not  ?  What  did  he  want  on  the  island  ?" 
were  some  of  the  questions  that  haunted  him. 

"Perhaps,"  he  thought  one  day,  "I  just  imagined  I 
saw  a  footprint,  or  perhaps  it  was  one  of  my  own  that  I 
have  made  when  going  to  sail  my  boat."  He  took  courage 
at  this  and  began  to  go  about  the  island  again.  But  he 
went  in  great  fear,  always  looking  behind  him.  He  was 
always  ready  to  run  at  the  first  sign  of  danger.  He  had 
made  himself  a  large  strong  new  bow  and  plenty  of  arrows. 
He  carried  these  in  a  quiver  he  had  made  from  his  cloth. 
He    fashioned   too   a   sharp-pointed,   lance-like   weapon 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  163 

which  he  hurled  with  a  kind  of  sling.  In  his  belt  he  car- 
ried some  new  sharpened  stone  knives.  He  had  found 
a  better  kind  of  rock  out  of  which  to  make  his  knives. 
It  resembled  glass  and  could  be  brought  to  a  tine,  keen 
edge. 

Armed  thus,  he  began  to  have  more  confidence.  He 
had  a  strong  desire  to  see  the  footprint  again  and  make 
up  his  mind  about  it.  He  wished  to  measure  it.  In  this 
way  he  could  tell  certainly  whether  it  was  a  chance  print 
of  his  own  foot  or  not.  So  after  a  few  days,  he  again 
ventured  across  the  island.  Alas,  on  measuring  the  print 
it  was  much  larger  than  his  own!  There  could  no  longer 
be  any  doubt  but  that  it  belonged  to  someone  else. 

Again  great  fear  fell  on  poor  Robinson.  He  shook 
with  cold  and  fright.  He  resolved  to  make  himself  more 
secure  against  attack. 

He  cut  and  carried  willow  stakes  and  set  them  in  a 
thick  hedge  around  in  front  of  his  shelter.  This  was 
outside  the  first  and  enclosed  it.  In  a  season  or  two  these 
had  grown  to  such  a  height  as  to  shut  out  all  view  of  his 
home  from  sight  to  one  coming  to  it  from  the  front. 

His  flock  of  goats  gave  him  many  troubled  thoughts. 
His  goats  were  his  greatest  treasure.  From  them  he  ob- 
tained without  trouble  his  meat,  his  milk  and  butter. 

"What  if  they  were  discovered  and  killed  or  carried 
away?"  He  resolved  to  divide  his  herd  into  three  parts 
and  secrete  these  in  separate  fenced  pastures  in  different 
parts  of  the  island.  His  herd  of  goats  now  numbered 
twenty-five.  He  made  thorough  search  about  the  island 
for  the  most  secluded  and  best  hidden  spots  where  he  could 
fence  in  a  pasture. 

One  day  as  he  was  exploring  on  the  west  side  of  the  island 
to  find  another  open  space  for  a  goat  field,  he  thought  he 


i64  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

spied  away  out  to  sea  a  boat.  He  looked  long  and  anx- 
iously and  yet  he  was  not  sure  that  it  was  a  boat  he  saw. 
But  how  easy  thought  Robinson  for  the  people  of  the 
main  land  which  must  be  at  no  great  distance  to  the 
westward  to  come  across  to  this  side  of  the  island  in  fair 
weather.  He  thought  too,  how  fortunate  he  was  to 
have  been  cast  on  the  east  side  of  the  island.  For  there 
he  had  his  shelter  in  the  very  safest  part. 

As  he  was  coming  down  from  a  hill  where  he  had  gone 
to  get  a  better  view  of  the  sea  he  made  another  discovery. 
About  him  everywhere  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  were  bones 
of  all  kinds.  Near  by  too,  were  charcoal  and  ashes. 
There  could  be  no  mistake,  the  place  was  visited  by  human 
beings.  These  were  very  likely  savages.  Everything 
showed  that  they  came  for  the  purpose  of  feasting  and 
not  for  plundering.  It  was  very  likely  that  they  neither 
sought  anything  on  the  island  nor  expected  it. 

This  thought  greatly  relieved  Robinson.  He  returned 
home  in  a  very  thankful  and  composed  state  of  mind. 
He  had  now  been  on  the  island  almost  eighteen  years  and 
had  not  been  discovered.  Yet,  no  doubt  the  island  had 
been  visited  many  times  by  the  savages  since  he  had  been 
there. 

In  a  short  time  his  fear  of  discovery  wore  off  and  he 
began  to  live  just  as  he  did  before  his  discovery. 

He  took,  however,  greater  precaution  against  surprise. 
He  always  carried  his  bow  and  arrows,  his  lance  and  knives. 
He  was  also  very  careful  about  making  a  great  smoke 
from  his  fire.  He  burned  a  great  quantity  of  wood  in  a 
pit  and  made  charcoal.  With  this  material  he  had  a  fine 
fire  with  a  very  little  smoke.  Every  day  also  he  went 
to  the  top  of  the  hill  back  of  his  shelter  in  order  to  discover 
if  possible  the  approach  of  savages. 


THE  TEACHERS'  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  165 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(b)  The  Indians,  Caribs,  their  manners  and  customs. 

Robinson's  new  weapon.  How  was  it  thrown?  Will  not  Robin- 
son make  a  head  for  his  lance  or  javeline  out  of  the  new  kind  of 
stone  he  has  found  ? 

The  making  of  charcoal. 

(c)  Do  you  think  you  would  have  been  as  frightened  as  Robin- 
son was  when  he  saw  the  footprint?  Shall  we  call  Robinson  brave 
or  cowardly?  Was  his  fear  justified ?  Would  everyone  or  anyone 
have  been  afraid?  Robinson  was  only  one,  the  savages  might 
be  many.  Robinson  wanted  companions  so  much,  was  it  not  pitiful 
that  he  was  so  afraid  of  his  own  kind?  He  was  more  afraid  of  them 
than  of  animals. 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(c)  Make  drawings  of  Robinson's  new  lance  and  sling,  his  new 
bow  and  quiver  of  arrows.  Picture  Robinson  looking  for  savages 
from  his  hill.     Do  not  forget  his  new  clothes,  hat  and  parasol. 


KOBINSON    WATCHING    FOR    SAVAGES 


XXXVI 

THE  LANDING  OF  THE  SAVAGES 

PREPARATION 

Do  you  think  Robinson  will  see  the  savages  that  have  visited  the 
island.  What  will  they  be  like?  What  will  they  do?  How  will 
they  be  dressed?  What  will  Robinson  do?  Will  he  fight  them? 
How  will  the  fight  come  out?  Maybe  Robinson  will  be  taken 
prisoner.  Maybe  Robinson  will  take  a  prisoner.  Would  it  be  a 
good  plan  for  Robin.son  to  capture  a  savage  and  have  him  for  a  com- 
panion ?  Write  out  the  story  of  The  Landing  of  the  Savages  and 
what  happened. 

PRESENTATION 

Another  year  passed  by,  Robinson  longed  more  and 
more  to  get  avi^ay  from  the  island.  Year  after  year  he 
had  hoped  and  watched  in  vain  for  a  passing  ship.  Every 
day  he  would  scan  the  waters  that  held  him  prisoner 
for  the  welcome  sight  of  a  sail.  He  had  been  disap- 
pointed. Now  his  only  hope  was  to  escape  to  the  main 
land  in  some  way.  He  feared  the  savages.  He  had  heard 
stories  of  their  being  cannibals.  But  if  they  could  come 
to  his  island  in  their  canoes  against  the  prevailing  wind, 
why  could  he  not  get  to  the  main  land  with  it  in  his  favor  ? 

Strange  as  it  may  be,  Robinson  began  to  wish  for  the 
return  of  the  savages.     He  hoped  to  watch  them  at  a  dis- 
tance and  find  out  something  about  their  customs.     More 
especially  he  wished  that  he  might  capture  one  of  them. 
i66 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  167 

He  had  two  reasons  for  this.  In  the  first  place  he  would 
have  a  companion.  He  pictured  fondly  how  he  would 
teach  him  gentle  manners  and  the  English  speech.  And 
too,  the  com})anion  would  be  able  to  help  him.  Besides 
this  he  longed  above  all  to  know  more  of  the  main  land 
and  whether  it  would  be  safe  to  go  there.  He  wanted  to 
find  out  in  what  kind  of  boats  they  made  the  voyage. 
He  thought  that  if  he  had  such  a  person  he  would  have 
someone  to  show  him  the  way  to  reach  the  land. 

The  more  he  thought,  the  more  anxious  he  became  to 
sec  the  savages  on  the  island.  He  thought  so  much  about 
it  by  day  that  he  dreamed  about  it  at  night.  One  night 
he  dreamed  that  the  savages  came,  drew  their  boats  upon 
the  shore  and  began  to  prepare  their  feast.  As  he  watched 
them  one  of  their  number  broke  away  from  his  fellows 
and  came  straight  toward  his  hiding-place.  Robinson 
thought  he  rushed  out,  drove  away  those  that  followed 
the  fleeing  man  and  rescued  him.  This  dream  made  a 
deep  impression  upon  him  and  made  him  await  the 
coming  of  the  savages  with  great  ho])es  and  eagerness. 

It  was  more  than  eighteen  months  after  he  had  formed 
this  plan  of  capturing  one  of  the  savages  before  the 
savages  made  their  appearance.  Robinson  was  sur- 
prised one  morning  to  see  no  less  than  five  canoes  drawn 
up  on  the  shore  at  a  point  on  his  side  of  the  island  about 
two  miles  below  his  shelter,  to  the  south.  The  people 
that  had  come  in  them  were  on  shore  and  out  of  sight. 
Robinson  went  back  to  his  shelter  to  make  his  plans. 
He  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  be  foolish  to  attack 
them.  There  must  be  twenty-five  or  thirty  of  them. 
He  finally  went  to  a  point  where  he  could  see  farther 
inland  and  soon  caught  sight  of  a  crowd  of  about  thirty 
savages.    They   were   naked   and   dancing   around   and 


i68  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

around  in  a  circle.  All  the  while  they  were  singing  and 
making  hideous  noises.  There  was  a  fire  in  the  center 
of  the  ring  of  savages.  "They  are  cooking  their  feast," 
thought  Robinson.  "Maybe  I  can  surprise  them  while 
they  eat  and  rush  in  and  seize  one."  But  this  seemed 
too  great  a  risk  to  run.  He  had  no  weapons  but  his  bow 
and  arrows,  his  lance  and  knife.  What  could  he  do 
against  so  great  a  number? 

But  fortune  favored  his  plans.  As  he  gazed  at  them 
from  his  safe  distance  he  saw  one  of  their  number  break 
away  from  the  rest  and  run  with  utmost  speed  directly 
toward  his  hiding-place.  At  once  two  other  savages 
pursued  him.  They  had  no  weapons  but  clubs.  They 
ran  with  great  swiftness,  but  the  man  in  front  was  steadily 
gaining  ground. 

Robinson  now  to  tell  the  truth  was  dreadfully  frightened 
to  see  the  savage  run  directly  toward  him  and  his  shelter. 
He  kept  his  place  however,  and  watched  the  race.  The 
man  running  away  ran  along  the  shore  and  would  soon 
come  to  the  little  creek  that  emptied  into  the  sea  below 
his  home.  Robinson  saw  that  the  savage  would  have 
to  swim  this  to  escape.  He  ran  down  thither  and  con- 
cealed himself  behind  a  tree  and  waited  for  the  fugitive 
to  come  up.  As  he  did  so,  the  fleeing  savage  plunged  in 
and  swam  across  with  a  few  strong  strokes.  When  he 
was  well  on  the  bank,  Robinson  presented  himself  and 
made  signs  to  him  to  come  to  him  and  he  would  help  him. 
The  savage  was  at  first  almost  overcome  with  astonish- 
ment and  fright,  for  Robinson  presented  a  very  unusual 
sight.  The  savage  at  once  ran  to  him  and  fell  down  at 
his  feet.  Indeed  so  great  was  his  fright  and  distress  that 
he  placed  one  of  Robinson's  feet  upon  his  neck  in  sign  that 
be  yielded  up  his  life  into  his  hands.     Robinson  raised 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  169 

him  up  and  motioned  for  him  to  take  the  lance  and  help 
defend  them  against  the  men,  now  coming  up.  They 
hid  behind  trees  and  waited  for  them  to  swim  across  the 
stream.  But  this  they  did  not  do.  When  they  reached 
the  creek,  they  could  see  nothing  of  their  runaway.  They 
very  slowly  turned  and  went  back  to  their  companions. 

Robinson  was  well  content  not  to  let  them  know  that 
there  was  any  one  on  the  island.  He  feared  they  might 
return  and  destroy  his  shelter  and  fields. 

Robinson  took  the  savage  to  his  shelter  and  gave  him 
bread  and  raisins  to  eat,  and  a  cup  of  water  to  drink.  He 
was  very  hungry  and  ate  greedily.  After  he  had  eaten, 
Robinson  made  signs  for  him  to  lie  down  and  sleep,  for 
the  Indian  was  nearly  tired  out  with  his  long  and  swift  run. 

He  was  a  handsome  fellow  of  his  race.  His  limbs  were 
large,  straight  and  strong.  He  had  a  good  face.  His 
hair  was  long  and  black,  his  forehead  high,  and  his  eyes 
bright.  His  skin  was  not  black  but  of  an  olive  color. 
His  teeth  were  fine  set  and  as  white  as  ivory. 

He  slept  about  an  hour;  when  he  awoke  he  came  run- 
ning to  Robinson  and  again  made  signs  to  him  that  he 
was  his  slave.  "You  saved  my  life,"  he  seemed  to  say, 
"and  now  I  will  serve  you."  Robinson  named  him  Friday 
at  once,  forth  at  was  the  day  on  which  the  great  event  of 
his  escape  had  taken  place. 

Robinson's  next  care  was  to  fit  him  out  with  some 
clothing.  He  had  by  this  time  several  suits  made  of 
his  coarse  cloth.  He  soon  had  Friday  dressed  in  one  of 
the  old  ones,  with  a  straw  or  braided  hat  on  his  head. 
He  did  not  think  it  safe  to  allow  Friday  to  sleep  with 
him  in  the  bower.  He  made  a  little  tent  for  him  inside 
the  enclosure.  This  was  covered  with  goatskins  and  made 
a  very  good  protection  from  both  heat  and  rain. 


I70  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


FRIDAY  AH  Robinson's  slave  fridav  in  uis  new  clothes 


DANCE  OF   THE  SAVAGES 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  171 

Robinson  took  care  (o  ktcp  all  his  kni\cs  and  weapons 
near  him  in  the  bower.  But  his  fears  that  Friday  might 
harm  him  were  unfounded.  Friday  from  the  first  was 
faithful  to  his  master.  He  was  sweet  and  obedient  in 
all  things.'  He  seemed  to  look  upon  Robinson  with  the 
love  of  a  child  for  father  and  never  tired  of  serving  him. 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  What  is  the  name  of  the  mainland  to  which  Robinson 
planned  to  escape?  Was  it  really  the  mainland  or  another  island? 
An  island  (Trinitlad)  lay  between  Tobago,  Roliinson's  Island,  and 
the  mainland.  To  what  country  does  this  island  now  belong?  What 
are  the  natives  of  these  Caribbee  Islands  called  ? 

(ft)  What  are  cannibals?  It  is  the  custom  among  savage  or 
primitive  men  to  kill  prisoners  taken  in  war  or  to  make  slaves  of 
them.  Savage  men  dance  and  feast  to  celebrate  victory  in  battle. 
Sometimes  they  kill  their  prisoners  at  this  time. 

(c)  Do  you  not  like  Robinson  because  he  did  not  kill  any  of  the 
savages?  Could  he  have  done  so?  Tell  how  he  might  have  killed 
the  two  men  that  pursued  Friday?  Would  it  have  been  right? 
Was  it  right  for  the  savages  to  kill  prisoners  taken  in  war?  Savage 
men  do  not  think  much  about  right  and  wrong.  Robinson  at  first 
wanted  to  kill  the  savages,  but  he  took  pity  on  them  and  spared  their 
lives.  We  praise  him  for  this.  He  had  a  kind  and  good  heart. 
He  pitied  them.  He  did  not  hate  them  and  seek  to  harm  them  as 
many  bad  men  would  have  done. 

Was  not  Robinson  kind  to  Friday?  We  should  always  be  kind 
to  the  helpless.  Robinson  was  thoughtful.  He  gave  Friday  food 
when  he  was  hungry,  water  when  he  was  thirsty  and  bade  him 
sleep  when  he  was  tired.  He  clothed  him  and  made  him  a  tent. 
Do  you  Hke  Robinson  for  this?  Friday  too  is  kind  to  his  master. 
Kindness  always  brings  kindness.  If  we  give  kind  deeds  we  will 
get  them  in  return. 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  Picture  the  scene  of  the  savages  in  their  war  dance.  Robin- 
son rescues  Friday.     Friday  and  his  new  clothes. 


XXXVII 

ROBINSON  AS  TEACHER 

PREPARATION 

Was  Robinson  a  good  scholar?  Has  he  forgotten  how  to  write? 
What  will  Friday  leam  from  him  ?  Does  Friday  know  how  to  weave, 
make  pots,  bake  bread,  raise  com  or  weave  cloth?  Does  he  know 
how  to  write  or  anything  about  the  Bible?  Friday  will  first  have 
to  leam  to  talk  Robinson's  language. 

PRESENTATION 

From  Robinson's  Diary 

"I  began  to  consider  that  having  now  two  mouths  to 
feed  instead  of  one,  I  must  provide  more  ground  for  my 
harvest  and  plant  a  larger  quantity  of  corn  that  I  used 
to  plant.  So  I  marked  out  a  larger  piece  of  land  and 
began  to  fence  it  in.  Friday  worked  not  only  very  will- 
ingly but  very  hard.  I  told  him  that  it  was  for  com 
to  make  more  bread  because  he  was  now  with  me.  He 
let  me  know  that  he  was  grateful  for  my  kindness  and 
would  work  much  harder  if  I  would  tell  him  what  to  do. 

"This  was  the  pleasantest  year  of  all  the  life  I  led  in  this 
place.  Friday  began  to  talk  pretty  well  and  understood 
the  names  of  almost  all  the  things  that  I  called  for  and  of 
all  the  places  which  I  wished  to  send  him.  I  was  care- 
ful to  teach  him  all  the  things  I  knew.  I  showed  him  how 
172 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  173 

to  plant  and  harvest  com,  how  lo  gather  fibre,  spin  yam 
and  to  weave  it  into  cloth.  He  learned  these  things 
quickly  and  became  very  skillful  in  making  pots.  He  knew 
something  about  this  because  at  home  he  had  seen  the 
women  make  them.  He  ornamented  them  with  figures 
of  birds  and  flowers.  I  taught  him  about  the  true  God. 
But  as  for  writing  he  could  never  do  much  with  this. 
I  had  no  books  and  could  not  make  him  understand  the 
importance  of  writing.  He  began  to  talk  a  great  deal 
to  me.  This  delighted  me  very  much.  I  began  to  love 
him  exceedingly.     He  was  so  very  honest  and  faithful. 

"After  I  had  taught  him  English  I  tried  one  day  to  find 
out  whether  he  had  any  wish  to  return  to  his  own  coun- 
try and  as  I  talked  to  him  about  it  I  saw  his  face  light 
up  with  joy  and  his  eye  sparkle.  From  this  I  had  no 
doubt  but  that  Friday  w^ould  like  to  be  in  his  own  coun- 
try again.  This  for  a  time  made  me  sad  to  think  how 
eagerly  he  would  leave  me  to  be  among  his  savage  friends. 
'Do  you  not  wish  you  were  back  in  your  own  country, 
Friday?'  I  said  to  him  one  day.  'Yes,'  he  said,  'I 
be  much  O,  glad  to  be  back  in  my  country.'  'What 
would  you  do  there,'  said  I?  'Would  you  turn  wild 
again  and  do  as  the  savages  do?'  He  shook  his  head 
and  said  very  gravely,  'No,  no,  Friday  tell  them  to  live 
good.  He  tell  them  to  plant  corn  and  live  like  white 
mans.' 

"  One  day  when  we  were  on  the  top  of  a  hill  on  the  west 
side  of  the  island,  Friday  suddenly  began  to  jump  and 
dance  about  in  great  glee.  I  asked  him  what  the  matter 
was.  'Oh,  joy,  oh,  glad,'  he  said;  'there  my  country!' 
The  air  was  so  clear  that  from  this  place,  as  I  had  before 
discovered,  land  could  be  distinctly  seen  looking  westward. 

"I  asked  him  how  far  it  was  from  our  island  to  his  coun- 


174  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

try  and  whether  their  canoes  were  ever  lost  in  coming  and 
going.  He  said  that  there  was  no  danger.  No  canoes 
were  ever  wrecked  and  that  it  was  easy  to  get  back  and 
forth.  I  asked  him  many  things  about  his  people  and 
country.  He  told  me  that  away  to  the  west  of  his  country 
there  lived  'white  mans  like  you.'  I  thought  these  must 
be  the  people  of  Central  America,  and  asked  him  how 
I  might  come  from  this  island  and  get  among  these  white 
men.  He  made  me  understand  that  I  must  have  a  large 
boat  as  big  as  two  canoes. 

"I  resolved  at  once  to  begin  to  make  a  boat  large  enough 
for  us  to  pass  over  to  the  land  we  could  see  lying  to  the 
west  and  if  possible  to  go  on  to  the  white  man's  country 
Friday  told  me  about.  It  took  us  nearly  two  months  to 
make  our  boat  and  rig  her  out  with  sails,  masts,  rudder, 
and  anchor.  We  had  to  weave  our  sails  and  twist  our 
rope.  We  burned  out  the  canoe  from  a  large  fallen  log. 
We  used  a  great  stone  tied  securely  to  the  end  of  a  strong 
rope  for  an  anchor. 

"When  we  had  the  boat  in  the  water,  Friday  showed 
great  skill  in  rowing  or  paddling  it.  Fie  had  managed 
boats  ever  since  he  was  old  enough,  but  he  did  not  know 
how  to  handle  a  sail  or  rudder.  He  learned  very  quickly, 
however,  to  sail  and  steer  the  boat  and  soon  was  perfectly 
at  home  in  it. 

"We  made  our  boat  safe  by  keeping  it  in  the  little  cove 
at  the  mouth  of  the  creek.  I  had  Friday  to  fetch  rocks 
and  build  a  dock  or  place  for  landing.  But  the  rainy 
season  was  now  coming  on  and  we  must  wait  for  fair 
weather.  In  the  meantime  I  planned  to  lay  by  such 
quantities  of  food  as  we  would  need  to  take  along." 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  1 75 

PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(b)  Study  the  description  of  Robinson's  boat.  Make  a  model 
of  this.  His  second  boat.  Make  the  sails.  It  will  be  much  larger 
and  better  than  his  first  one. 

(a)  Make  a  drawing  of  the  boat  from  many  points  of  view. 
Picture  Robirvson  and  Friday  sailing  in  the  boat. 


XXXVIII 
ANOTHER  SHIPWRECK 

PREPARATION 

Do  you  think  a  ship  will  ever  come  to  the  island?  Do  not  ships 
pass  that  way?  Do  you  think  Robinson  gets  oflf  the  island  at  all? 
How  does  he  finally  get  off?  Does  he  get  away  in  his  boat  or  does 
a  ship  come?  Need  we  be  surprised  if  another  ship  is  wrecked 
off  the  island  just  as  Robinson's  was?  What  became  of  Robinson's 
ship  ?  Did  he  get  anything  from  it  ?  Write  out  the  story  of  another 
ship  being  wrecked  on  the  island. 

PRESENTATION 

One  evening  Robinson  sat  in  his  shelter  thinking  of 
his  plans  to  escape  to  Friday's  country.  He  was  sad. 
For,  after  all,  this  place  was  very  dear  to  him.  It  was  the 
only  home  he  had.  Had  he  not  made  ever)1:hing  with 
his  own  hands?  It  was  doubly  dear  to  him  on  this  ac- 
count. He  thought  how  it  would  grieve  him  to  leave 
his  goats,  his  fields,  and  the  many  comforts  he  had  here. 

He  had  been  telling  Friday  of  his  home  in  New  York. 
He  told  him  of  the  great  city,  and  of  its  many  wonderful 
sights.  He  told  him  of  his  country  and  people  of  his 
flag  and  its  history.  All  these  things  brought  back  memo- 
ries of  his  boyhood  and  he  wondered  what  changes  had 
come  in  his  long  absence.  Friday  listened  to  all  Rob- 
inson told  him  with  wonderful  intelligence.  He  was  de- 
176  -  _ 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  177 

lighted  in  hearing  Robinson  tell  of  the  wonders  of  the 
great  world,  for  he  had  never  known  anything  about  it. 
As  they  talked  Robinson  noticed  the  approach  of  a  storm. 
The  sky  was  getting  black  with  clouds.  The  winds  were 
blowing  a  hurricane.  The  waves  were  coming  in  moun- 
tain high.  It  reminded  him  of  the  eventful  night  now 
twenty-five  years  ago  when  his  ship  was  tossed  up  on  the 
shore  like  an  egg  shell  and  broken  to  pieces. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  sound  that  made  Robinson 
start  from  his  seat  with  the  wildest  alarm.  Was  it  the 
sound  of  a  cannon  from  the  ocean  or  the  terrible  crash 
and  war  of  the  water  on  the  rocks  of  the  coast?  There 
it  is  again;  it  is  a  cannon!  Some  ship  is  in  distress! 
This  is  its  signal!  Robinson  ran  out  and  down  to  the 
shore  with  Friday  at  his  heels. 

"Oh  master!"  said  Friday,  "can  we  not  help?  If 
they  only  knew  the  island  was  here  and  how  to  steer  into 
the  harbor  beyond  the  point  of  land  on  the  south." 
Robinson  was  so  excited  that  he  scarcely  knew  what  he 
was  doing.  He  ran  up  and  down  the  shore  calling  wildly, 
but  the  awful  roar  of  the  sea  and  wind  drowned  his  cries. 
Suddenly  his  thoughts  came  to  him.  "Quick,  Friday, 
get  some  fire  in  a  pot.  We  will  run  to  the  point,  gather 
grass  and  wood,  and  make  a  fire  there.  Maybe  we  can 
guide  them  into  the  harbor." 

They  soon  had  a  great  beacon  light  sending  its  welcome 
greeting  far  over  the  sea.  The  pilot  of  the  ship  saw  it 
and  steered  his  ship  nearer  and  nearer.  Robinson  was 
ready  to  shout  for  joy  as  the  ship  seemed  about  to  make 
the  harbor.  The  ship  had  her  sails  torn  in  shreds  and 
her  rudder  broken.  It  was  hard  to  steer  her  in  such  a 
gale.  On  rounding  the  point,  she  was  blown  on  the 
rocks.     With  a  frightful  crash  which  could  be  heard  above 


178  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

the  din  of  the  storm  she  struck  and  held  fast.  Robinson 
could  hear  the  cries  of  the  men  and  the  orders  of  the 
officers.  They  were  trying  to  get  boats  ready  to  put 
off,  but  such  was  the  confusion  of  the  storm  and  the  enor- 
mous waves  breaking  over  the  deck  that  it  could  not  be 
done  quickly.  Before  the  men  could  get  a  boat  into  the 
sea,  and  get  into  it,  the  ship  gave  a  lurch  to  one  side  as 
though  about  to  sink.  All  the  men  jumped  for  one  boat. 
It  was  overburdened.  The  wind  tossed  it  about.  The 
sea  soon  filled  it  and  it  went  down  and  all  were  lost. 

Robinson  and  Friday  remained  on  the  shore  all  night. 
They  watched  to  see  if  they  could  not  help  some  poor 
sailor  that  might  cling  to  a  plank  and  be  blown  on  shore. 
They  saw  no  one. 

At  last  they  lay  down,  but  they  could  not  sleep.  Many 
times  they  sprang  up  and  ran  about  for  fear  that  some 
poor  fellow  would  need  their  help.  At  last  morning 
came.  The  storm  ceased.  Robinson  and  Friday  searched 
everywhere  for  the  bodies  of  the  sailors,  but  could  find 
none.  But  the  wind  had  blown  the  ship  in  plain  view, 
and  into  shallow  waters.  It  was  lying  on  the  bottom  with 
more  than  half  its  Inilk  out  of  the  water.  The  masts  were 
gone.  It  was  a  sad  sight.  No  human  being  could  be 
seen  on  it 

They  were  now  rejoiced  that  they  had  their  boat  ready. 
"Let  us  take  it,"  said  Robinson,  "and  go  out  to  the  ship. 
It  may  be  some  person  is  still  on  the  unfortunate  ship." 
They  were  soon  by  the  ship's  side.  They  rowed  around 
it  until  they  saw  a  rope  hanging  down  from  the  deck. 
Robinson  seized  this  and  clambered  up.  Friday  tied 
the  boat  fast,  and  followed.  Robinson  opened  the  door 
leading  from  the  deck  into  the  ship  and  went  down.  He 
searched  in  all  the  cabins,  and  knocked  at  all  the  doors. 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  179 

He  called,  but  all  was  still.  When  he  was  satisfied  that 
every  person  on  board  had  been  drowned  he  we{)t  bitterly. 
Friday  stood  there  with  open  and  staring  eyes.  He 
looked  and  looked.  He  was  astonished  at  the  large  shij) 
and  at  the  wonderful  things  before  him.  They  were  in 
the  cabin  where  the  passengers  had  been.  There  stood 
trunks  under  the  benches  and  clothes  hung  on  the  hooks 
on  the  wall.  One  trunk  was  open.  In  it  were  tele- 
scopes through  which  the  travelers  had  looked  at  the 
land.  Robinson  saw  also  paper,  pens,  penholders  and 
ink.  Books  were  also  near  by.  Robinson  first  took  a 
thick  book.  It  was  the  Bible,  out  of  which  his  mother 
had  so  often  taught  him.  Then  they  came  to  the 
sailors'  cabin.  There  hung  muskets  and  swords  and 
bags  of  shot  and  cartridges.  Then  they  went  to  the  work- 
room. There  were  saws,  hammers,  spades,  shovels, 
chisels,  nails,  bottles,  and  pails,  knives  and  forks.  And 
something  more,  over  which  Robinson  was  most  glad, 
matches.  At  last  they  came  into  the  store-room.  There 
lay  bags  of  flour  and  barley,  teas,  lentils,  beans  and  sugar. 
Then  Robinson  embraced  Friday  in  his  great  joy  and 
said  to  him,  "How  rich  we  are!" 


THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(b)  Did  Robinson  do  the  best  thing  when  ne  built  a  fire  on  the 
point?  Maybe  the  ship  was  led  on  to  the  rocks  in  this  way.  Is  it 
safer  for  a  ship  out  on  the  ocean  or  near  shore  in  a  storm  ? 

Have  you  seen  a  life-saving  crew  practicing?  Our  country  keeps 
companies  of  men  at  all  dangerous  places  where  ships  may  need 
help.  If  a  wreck  occurs  these  men  go  out  in  their  boats  and  take 
care  of  the  disabled  ship,  the  passengers  and  the  sailors.  Some- 
times the  life  saving  crew  shows  great  bravery  in  risking  their  lives 
to  save  the  people  on  board. 


XXXIX 

SAVING  THINGS  FROM  THE  SHIP 

PREPARATION 

What  do  you  think  Robinson  will  prize  most  and  what  will  he 
first  take  back  with  him  ?  Make  a  list  of  things  you  think  Robin- 
son will  take  from  the  ship. 

PRESENTATION 

After  Robinson  had  looked  through  the  ship  he  began 
to  plan  the  way  to  get  the  tools  and  things  he  most  wanted 
on  shore.  He  and  Friday  first  carried  everything  together 
that  he  wanted  to  take  on  shore.  When  they  had  done 
this,  he  found  he  had  the  following  things.  Robinson 
stood  everything  together  that  he  needed  most. 

1 .  A  case  of  nails  and  screws. 

2.  Two  iron  axes  and  several  hatchets. 

3.  A  saw. 

4.  A  small  case  of  planes,  tongs,  augers,  files,  chisels, 
etc. 

5.  A  third  case  with  iron  brackets,  hooks,  hinges,  etc. 

6.  A  case  of  matches. 

7.  A  barrel  of  gunpowder. 

8.  Two  muskets  and  a  pistol. 

9.  Several  swords. 

10.    A  bag  of  cartridges. 
180 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  i8i 

11.  A  large  sail  cloth  and  some  rope. 

12.  A  telescope. 

By  means  of  the  ship's  ropes,  Robinson  let  everything 
down  into  his  boat.  He  himself  took  the  Bible  and  then 
they  rowed  to  the  shore,  and  unloaded  the  boat.  Every- 
thing was  put  into  the  bower  where  rain  could  not  harm  it. 
By  the  time  they  had  this  done,  night  was  coming  on  and 
they  decided  to  do  no  more  that  day,  but  wait  until  the 
next  day. 

"We  must  work  fast,"  said  Robinson.  "The  first 
storm  is  likely  to  break  the  ship  in  pieces  and  destroy 
everything  in  it." 

The  next  morning  early  they  ate  a  hastily  prepared 
breakfast  and  were  off  to  the  boat.  Neither  Robinson 
nor  Friday  stopped  for  their  noon  day  lunch.  "A  storm 
is  brewing,"  said  Robinson,  "the  air  is  calm,  the  sky  is 
overcast  with  clouds,  the  heat  is  oppressive.  We 
must  hurry."  With  the  utmost  diligence  they  rowed 
back  and  forth  all  day.  They  made  nine  trips.  They 
had  now  on  shore  a  surprising  quantity  of  all  kinds  of 
tools,  goods  and  weapons.  They  had  all  kinds  of  ware 
to  use  in  the  kitchen,  clothes,  and  food.  Robinson  prized 
a  little  four-wheeled  wagon  and  a  whetstone. 

But  in  looking  over  his  stores,  Robinson  suddenly  dis- 
covered that  he  had  no  needles  nor  thread.  They  went 
at  once  to  procure  these  important  articles.  In  looking 
for  needles  and  thread,  Robinson  found  a  small  trunk  full 
of  money  and  valuable  stones.  There  were  diamonds, 
rubies,  pearls,  and  much  gold.  Robinson  pushed  it  to 
one  side.  "What  can  I  do  with  riches  on  this  island?  I 
would  give  them  all  for  some  needles  and  thread,"  he 
said  to  Friday.     But  on  second  thought  he  took  the  trunk 


1&2  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

and  its  contents  along  with  him  to  his  cave.  For  in  the 
trunk  were  also  letters  and  writings.  "Perhaps,"  he  said, 
"these  tell  to  whom  the  valuables  belong  and  I  can  re- 
turn them  some  time." 

Robinson  at  last  found  a  case  containing  everything  one 
could  need  with  which  to  cut  and  sew  cloth.  There  were 
scissors,  thread,  needles,  thimbles,  tapes,  and  buttons. 
But  now  the  wind  was  rising  and  they  must  hurry.  They 
were  nearly  ready  for  departure.  They  were  passing 
through  a  part  of  the  ship  not  before  visited.  They  were 
surprised  to  hear  a  sound  coming  from  a  room  whose  door 
was  kept  shut  by  a  heap  of  stuff  that  had  been  thrown 
against  it  by  the  violent  pitching  of  the  ship  in  the  storm. 
Robinson  and  Friday  cleared  away  the  rubbish  and  were 
surprised  to  find  a  dog  almost  drowned.  He  was  so  weak 
from  want  of  food  that  his  cries  could  be  heard  a  short 
distance  only.  Robinson  took  him  tenderly  in  his  arms 
and  carried  him  to  the  boat,  while  Friday  carried  the 
sewing  case  and  the  trunk. 

The  wind  was  now  blowing  a  gale.  A  few  yards  from 
the  ship  they  were  in  great  danger.  Robinson  grasped 
the  rudder  and  made  Friday  stand  ready  to  cut  away  the 
mast  in  case  they  found  the  wind  too  strong.  With  the 
greatest  difficulty  they  finally  made  the  little  cove  at  the 
mouth  of  the  creek  and  were  soon  landed  with  their  precious 
cargo.  The  next  morning  they  eagerly  searched  the 
waters  for  the  ship.  Not  even  their  field  glasses  could 
reveal  anything  of  it.  Some  planks,  a  mast,  and  parts  of 
a  small  boat  were  blown  on  shore.  All  else  had  dis- 
appeared. 

Robinson  set  to  work  at  once  to  make  a  door  for  his 
bower  out  of  the  pine  wood  cast  up  by  the  waves.  How 
easy  the  work  proceeded  with  saws,  hammers,   augers, 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  183 

squares,  planes,  nails,  hinges,  and  screws!  With  the 
wagon  loo,  Friday  could  now  gather  his  corn  quickly  and 
easily  or  haul  in  a  great  quantity  of  grapes  to  dry  for 
raisins. 

Friday  had  never  seen  a  gun.  He  did  not  know  the  use 
of  firearms.  The  muskets  that  Robinson  had  brought 
from  the  ship  were  a  great  mystery  to  him.  Robinson 
showed  him  their  use.  He  showed  how  they  could  de- 
fend themselves.  He  told  Friday  that  these  weapons 
would  kill  at  a  distance.  He  took  some  powder  and 
touched  a  match  to  it.  Friday  was  greatly  frightened. 
Robinson  then  proceeded  to  load  the  gun.  He  put  ui 
some  powder,  a  ball  of  lead  or  bullet.  Then  at  the 
hammer  he  placed  a  little  cap  which  gave  a  flash  when 
struck.  This  ignited  the  powder.  When  all  was  in 
readiness  Robinson  bade  Friday  follow  him.  They 
went  slowly  out  into  the  forest  along  the  stream.  Soon 
Robinson  espied  a  rabbit  silting  under  a  clump  of  grass. 
Robinson  raised  his  gun,  took  careful  aim,  pressed  the 
trigger.  There  was  a  flash  and  loud  report  and  there 
lay  the  rabbit  dead.  But  Friday  too,  was  lying  on  the 
ground.  He  had  fainted  from  astonishment  and  fright. 
Robinson  dropped  his  gun  and  raised  the  poor  fellow  up 
to  a  silting  position.  He  quickly  recovered.  He  ran  to 
get  the  rabbit.  He  examined  it  carefully.  Robinson  at 
last  pointed  out  the  hole  the  bullet  had  made  and  the 
mystery  of  the  way  the  rabbit  was  killed  was  solved.  Robin- 
son had  lived  alone  so  long  that  he  had  learned  to  love 
every  living  creature  on  the  island.  He  never  harmed 
anything  except  when  he  needed  food.  He  had  lived 
so  quietly  that  the  birds  and  animals  did  not  fear  him. 
They  lived  near  his  shelter  and  seemed  to  know  him. 

Robinson  was  delighted  with  his  new  tools  and  weapons. 


i84  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

But  they  reminded  him  of  home.  Nothing  that  he  had 
seen  in  all  the  time  he  had  been  on  the  island  so  turned 
his  thoughts  toward  home  and  friends.  Robinson  v/ould 
sit  for  hours  thinking  of  the  past  and  making  plans  for 
the  future.     He  was  homesick. 


THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(a)  Indications  of  a  storm.  Children  make  weather  observa- 
tion. The  usual  order  of  coming  on  of  a  cyclone  or  spell  of  weather. 
(i)  Wind  S.  E.  ten  or  twelve  hours.  Cloudiness  increases.  Winds 
slow  down,  rain  comes  on.  Storm  passes  over.  Winds  change  to 
West  and  northwest  and  increase  in  strength. 

(b)  What  kind  of  tools  had  Robinson  before  the  shipwreck? 
What  material  were  they  made  of?  We  call  the  time  when  men 
had  nothing  but  stone  tools,  the  Time  of  Stone  or  Stone  Age.  At 
one  time  men  did  not  know  how  to  use  any  material  but  stone  for 
tools.  Then  they  used  bronze  and  next  iron.  Our  time  is  the  Age 
of  Iron.  The  ship  and  its  contents  changed  Robinson  from  the  Age 
of  Stone  to  the  Age  of  Iron.  It  changed  him  to  living  as  a  civilized 
man  lives.     Guns,  kinds  of,  and  uses. 

What  is  a  telescope?  A  small  one  with  double  glass  is  called  a 
field  glass.  Will  not  Robinson  prize  this?  He  can  now  watch  for 
passing  ships  from  his  hill.     He  can  see  much  farther. 

What  trades  does  Robinson  now  practice  ?  What  do  we  call  one 
that  makes  pots?  That  weaves  cloth?  Makes  hats?  Makes 
bread?  Does  hunting?  Sails  ships?  Does  Robinson  now  have 
to  do  so  many  different  things?  Friday  will  do  some  things  for  him. 
Does  your  papa  have  to  do  as  many  different  things  as  Robinson 
did?  Why  did  Robinson  have  to  do  so  many  things?  Why  does 
not  your  papa  have  to  do  so  many  different  things?  Do  savages 
have  to  do  more  or  fewer  different  things  than  civilized  men?  Do 
savage  men  have  trades?  Did  Friday  have  a  trade?  How  many 
different  trades  made  the  tools  Robinson  got  from  the  ship? 

(c)  Do  you  like  Robinson  because  he  was  kind  to  the  dog? 
Was  Robinson  kind-hearted  or  cruel?  Will  a  kind  man  mistreat 
any  animal?    Are  there  any  animals  we  should  kill?    Poisonous 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


i8S 


snakes?  Few  snakes  are  poisonous.  Most  snakes  are  very  useful 
in  destroying  injurious  insects.  Do  we  not  like  Robinson  because 
he  did  not  kill  animals  for  sport  or  fun  ?  Even  savage  men  do  not 
kill  animals  for  fun  or  sport.  They  hunt  them  for  food.  Animals 
that  have  never  been  hunted  are  tame.  Robinson  lived  with  the 
animals.     They  loved  him  and  trusted  him. 


PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 

(a)  Study  different  kinds  of  ships  and  draw  one  you  think  would 
resemble  the  one  that  was  wrecked  off  Robinson's  Island?  Make  a 
picture  showing  Robinson  shooting  the  rabbit.  Don't  forget  the  dog. 
Study  the  drawing  of  dogs.     Learn  to  draw  them  well. 


TUE    WRECKED    SHIP 


I86  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 


HOBINSON  SHOOTING 


XL 

THE  RETURN   OF  THE  SAVAGES 

PREPARATION 

Will  not  Robinson  now  make  plans  to  escape?  What  will  he  do ? 
Will  he  dare  to  trust  himself  in  the  boat  he  made?  Will  he  be 
afraid  that  the  savages  will  kill  him?  Will  not  Friday  protect  him 
from  them?  Will  they  build  a  new  boat  or  remodel  the  one  they 
have,  now  that  they  have  tools?  Have  you  thought  that  maybe  the 
savages  will  return  and  upset  Robinson's  plan  to  escape?  Write 
out  about  the  preparations  for  escape  and  an  unexpected  visit  of  the 
savages. 

PRESENTATION 

Robinson  now  renewed  his  plans  for  escaping  from  the 
island  to  Friday's  country.  They  first  rebuilt  their  boat 
with  their  new  tools.  They  hollowed  out  the  center  till 
the  sides  were  thin  toward  the  top.  They  shaped  her 
sides  and  keel.  They  made  her  prow  sharp  so  that 
she  would  cut  the  water  easily.  They  made  a  new  mast, 
strong  and  tall  and  shapely.  They  made  larger  and 
stronger  sails  and  ropes.  They  made  two  pairs  of  extra 
oars.  They  made  boxes  and  cupboards  in  the  prow 
and  stern  for  keeping  their  fresh  water  and  provisions. 
Friday's  eyes  sparkled  with  joy  when  it  was  done.  He 
hoped  he  would  now  be  able  to  return  to  his  own  island 
and  parents.     Robinson  noticed  his  joy  and  asked  him, 

187 


i88  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

"Do  you  want  to  return  to  your  own  people?"  "Yes," 
said  Friday,  "very  much."  "Would  you  trust  yourself 
in  this  boat?"  "Yes,"  said  Friday.  "Very  well,"  said 
his  master,  "you-hav^i  may  have  it  and  start  home  when 
you  please."  "Yes  Master,  but  you  come  too,  my  people 
will  not  hurt  you."  Robinson  resolved  to  venture  over 
to  Friday's  land  with  him. 

But  before  their  preparations  were  complete  the  rainy 
season  of  our  fall  set  in.  They  resolved  to  wait  until  the 
weather  was  settled  and  as  soon  as  the  rainy  season  was 
over  to  set  out.  They  ran  their  boat  well  up  into  the  creek 
and  covered  it  well  with  a  large  tarpaulin  made  of  sail- 
cloth obtained  from  the  ship. 

Robinson  had  now  been  on  the  island  twenty-seven 
years.  For  the  last  three  years  he  had  lived  happily 
with  his  companion  Friday.  Every  year  in  September, 
Robinson  celebrated  the  day  his  life  was  saved  and  he 
was  thrown  up  on  the  island.  Robinson  celebrated  it 
this  year  with  more  than  the  usual  thankfulness.  He 
thought  that  it  would  be  his  last  anniversary  on  the 
island. 

One  morning,  Friday  had  gone  to  the  beach  to  find  a 
turtle.  Soon  he  came  running  back  out  of  breath.  "Oh 
Master,"  he  cried,  "they  are  coming,  they  are  coming 
to  take  me  prisoner!"     He  was  trembling  with  fright. 

"We  must  take  our  guns  and  defend  ourselves,"  said 
Robinson.  "But  we  will  not  kill  anyone  unless  they 
attack  us."  This  quieted  Friday.  They  loaded  four 
muskets  and  three  pistols.  Robinson  put  the  pistols 
in  his  belt  where  he  also  fastened  a  sword.  He  gave  Fri- 
day a  pistol  and  a  musket,  for  Friday  had  learned  to  shoot 
well.  Besides  Friday  carried  a  bag  of  powder  and  bul- 
lets.   Robinson  took  his  field   glasses  and  saw  twenty- 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  189 

one  savages  with  two  prisoners.  The  prisoners  were 
bound  and  lying  on  the  ground.  This  was  a  war  party 
celebrating  a  victory  with  a  feast.  They  probably  in- 
tended to  kill  their  prisoners.  "We  must  save  the  lives 
of  those  men,"  said  Robinson. 

The  savages  this  time  had  landed  quite  near  Robin- 
son's shelter,  not  more  than  a  half  mile  below  the  creek's 
mouth.  Soon  he  and  Friday  started  off.  Robinson 
commanded  Friday  to  follow  quietly  and  not  to  speak  or 
shoot.  "We  will  surprise  them  and  give  them  a  good  scare," 
said  Robinson.  When  yet  a  considerable  distance  away 
they  could  hear  the  savages  yelling  and  screaming.  Some 
of  them  were  dancing  their  war  dance.  Their  faces  and 
bodies  were  painted  to  make  them  look  terrible  to  their 
enemies.  They  were  dancing  around  their  prisoners 
with  hideous  cries  and  gestures.  They  could  now  see 
the  prisoners  plainly.  One  had  a  beard  and  was  plainly 
a  white  man.  Robinson  was  surprised  and  determined 
to  save  him  at  all  risks.  "Get  your  gun  ready  to  fire," 
he  said  to  Friday,  and  when  I  say  the  word  let  us  run 
forward  yelling  and  firing  our  guns  over  their  heads." 
This  will  fill  them  with  such  fright  that  they  will  take  to 
their  heels  and  boats  and  get  away  as  soon  as  possible. 
In  the  scramble  and  confusion  we  will  rush  in  and  rescue 
the  prisoners.  This  plan  did  not  please  Friday  at  all. 
His  savage  blood  was  up  and  he  wanted  to  kill  all  he 
could.  "Let's  fire  on  them,"  he  said.  "Let's  kill  all  but 
the  prisoners."  "No,  no,"  said  Robinson,  "it's  always 
wrong  to  take  life  unless  it  cannot  be  avoided  to  save 
one's  own.     Let's  try  my  plan  first." 

With  great  reluctance  Friday  consented.  At  a  signal 
from  Robinson  they  rushed  forward,  and  when  in  plain 
sight  they  fired  off  their  muskets  in  the  air,     If  the  ground 


igo  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

had  suddenly  exploded  beneath  their  feet  there  could  have 
been  no  more  confusion,  astonishment,  and  fright.  A 
few  took  to  their  heels.  Others  lay  as  if  dead.  They  had 
swooned  from  fright.  But  as  Robinson  came  up  they 
jumped  to  their  feet  and  pushed  into  the  boats  leaving 
the  prisoners  behind.  Robinson  and  Friday  still  rushed 
forward  and  fired  their  remaining  loaded  guns  and  pistols 
in  the  air.  The  savages  made  all  haste  to  get  into  their 
boats  and  push  off.  Soon  they  were  well  out  to  sea, 
paddling  rapidly  for  the  west.  Robinson  reloaded  his 
arms  and  gave  them  a  farewell  volley,  but  not  a  soul  was 
killed  or  even  wounded.  This  gave  Robinson  great 
pleasure.  He  had  accomplished  his  purpose  without 
bloodshed. 

They  could  now  turn  to  the  prisoners.  Robinson  ran 
back  to  them  and  cjuickly  cut  their  ropes.  Robinson 
asked  the  white  man  who  he  was,  but  the  man  was  too 
weak  to  answer.     Robinson  gave  him  a  piece  of  bread. 

The  fear  of  death  being  removed,  the  white  man  soon 
grew  stronger.  When  Friday  came  running  back  from 
watching  the  boats  and  saw  the  savage  that  had  been  a 
prisoner  he  gave  a  loud  yell.  He  threw  his  arms  around 
the  man,  kissed  him  and  laughed  and  cried  for  joy.  He 
put  his  head  on  his  breast  and  hugged  him  again  and 
again.  Robinson  was  greatly  surprised  and  puzzled. 
He  asked  Friday  what  his  actions  meant.  But  so  intent 
was  Friday  that  he  got  no  answer.  At  last  Friday  re- 
covered far  enough  from  his  great  joy  to  say  with  face 
beaming  with  delight,  "Oh,  Master,  this  man  is  my  dear 
father."  They  at  once  began  a  long  conversation,  each 
one  told  his  story.  Suddenly  Friday  jumped  up  and  said, 
"How  foolish  I  am,  I  have  not  thought  to  give  my  father 
anything  to  eat  and  drink.    He  must  be  nearly  starred." 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  191 

And  away  he  ran  toward  the  shelter  and  was  soon  back 
with  food  and  water  to  drink. 

Robinson  learned  through  Friday  from  his  father 
that  the  white  man  was  a  Spaniard,  that  he  had  been 
captured  by  the  tribe  that  had  a  battle  with  Friday's 
people.  The  Spaniard  was  one  of  sixteen  men  that  had 
been  saved   by   Friday's  people  from  a  wrecked   ship. 

So  weak  were  the  prisoners  that  they  could  not  walk 
to  the  shelter.  Robinson  and  Friday  made  a  litter  and 
carried  them  one  after  the  other.  When  once  there, 
Friday  prepared  some  rich  rice  soup.  The  prisoners 
ate  heartily  and  in  a  few  days  were  strong  enough  to  go 
about  the  island. 

THINGS  TO  THINK  AND  TALK  ABOUT 

(c)  Could  Robinson  have  killed  the  savages  without  danger  to 
himself?  He  did  not  wish  to  do  this.  What  words  describe  his 
conduct?  Kind?  Good?  Thoughtful?  Considerate?  Merci- 
ful?    What  words  would  tell  the  opposite  kind  of  conduct? 

Do  you  like  Friday's  joy  on  finding  his  father?  Friday  was  good 
to  his  father.  He  was  a  good  son.  He  loved  his  father.  He 
obeyed  his  parents. 


192 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 
PROBLEMS  TO  WORK  OUT 


(a)     Illustrate  your  written  reproduction  by  a  picture  showing 
Robinson  and  Friday  chasing  the  savages  to  their  boats. 


XOBINSON  AND  FKIDAY  CHASING   THE  SAVAGES 


XLI 

DELIVERANCE  AT  LAST 

PREPARATION 

Will  not  Robinson  now  carry  out  his  plans  of  escape  ?  How  will 
his  new  companions  change  his  plans?  Will  they  help  or  hinder 
him  ?  How  do  you  now  imagine  Robinson  will  get  away  from  the 
island  ?  Will  he  go  in  his  boat  or  will  a  ship  come  ?  Will  not  Robin- 
son plan  to  help  the  fifteen  comrades  of  the  Spaniard  who  are  help- 
less in  Friday's  country?  Does  not  Robinson  always  help  others 
first? 

Write  out  a  story  of  what  changes  Robinson  makes  in  his  plans 
and  how  at  last  he  is  delivered. 

PRESENTATION 

Friday  had  not  forgotten  the  plan  for  going  to  his  home. 
He  would  often  mention  it  and  spent  hours  talking  about 
it  during  the  long  rainy  season.  But  now  that  the  Span- 
iard and  Friday's  father  had  come  with  the  family,  Robin- 
son felt  he  must  change  his  plans  a  little.  He  felt  very 
sorry  for  the  Spaniards  left  in  Friday's  country.  They 
did  not  have  enough  to  eat  and  were  sick  and  sad  besides. 
He  talked  the  matter  over  with  the  Spaniard  many  times. 
They  at  last  planned  to  send  for  them.  The  Spaniard 
and  Friday's  father  were  to  go.  Robinson  was  for  doing 
it  at  once.  But  the  Spaniard  advised  delay.  "How  can 
we    get    food    for   ourselves    and    fifteen    others?    Your 

193 


194  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

small  store  will  soon  be  used  up,"  he  argued.  Robinson 
at  last  saw  that  this  difficulty  must  be  overcome.  There 
was  just  one  thing  to  do,  and  this,  to  delay  their  de- 
parture until  a  new  crop  of  corn  could  be  raised.  This 
would  take  six  months. 

But  at  it  they  went.  The  four  men  could  do  much  and 
work  fast.  They  cleared  more  ground  and  planted  all 
the  seed  corn  they  could  spare  from  their  store.  Be- 
sides this  they  sowed  about  twelve  bushels  of  barley 
they  had  gotten  in  the  ship. 

The  care  for  so  much  crop,  its  harvesting  and  storing 
away,  kept  them  very  busy  for  the  season.  Robinson 
not  only  did  this,  but  also  increased  his  flock  of  goats  by 
catching  kids  and  putting  them  in  his  pasture.  He 
gathered  too,  all  the  grapes  he  could  and  dried  them  on  the 
branches  of  trees. 

At  the  end  of  the  harvesting  season,  they  made  ready 
their  boat.  They  filled  it  with  all  the  bread  it  could  well 
carry.  They  put  in  raisins  and  fresh  water.  Robinson 
gave  the  Spaniard  and  Friday's  father  each  a  musket 
and  plenty  of  powder  and  bullets.  Now,  all  was  ready. 
Friday  gave  his  father  a  loving  farewell.  He  stretched 
out  his  arms  towards  him  as  the  boat  moved  away.  The 
Spaniard  and  Robinson  waved  their  hats  and  they  were 
off. 

They  promised  to  be  back  in  eight  or  nine  days.  Robin- 
son and  Friday  made  every  preparation  to  receive  the 
guests.  They  were  to  have  a  home  not  far  from  Robin- 
son's built  of  poles,  and  thatched  with  the  long  marsh 
grasses,  like  Robinson's  bower.  There  was  no  need  of 
hiding  or  defending  it.     It  did  not  take  long  to  fix  it  up. 

Eight  days  had  now  passed  since  the  boat  had  left. 
Friday  could  hardly  restrain  himself  longer.    He  watched 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  195 

the  ocean  all  the  time.  He  would  go  to  the  top  of  the 
hill  with  the  field  glasses  every  hour  during  the  day  to 
catch  a  first  glimpse  of  them. 

On  the  ninth  day,  as  Friday  put  up  his  glasses  to  search 
the  waters  he  dropped  them  with  a  yell  of  surprise.  He 
tore  down  the  hill  with  the  utmost  speed  and  rushed  up  to 
Robinson  as  one  gone  mad.  "Look,  look,  oh  Master!" 
he  cried,  "a  big  ship;  a  big  ship  way  out  on  the  sea!" 
Robinson  took  the  glasses  and  sure  enough  there  within 
hailing  distance  was  a  large  ocean  going  vessel.  Robin- 
son was  overcome  with  excitement. 

For  twenty-eight  years  his  aching  eyes  had  scanned  the 
waters  for  this  welcome  sight.  His  joy  was  boundless. 
The  ship  looked  like  an  American.  Yes,  there  floated 
the  American  flag!  How  welcome  a  sight  to  Robinson. 
He  could  not  utter  a  word.  Tears  filled  his  eyes  and 
streamed  down  his  cheeks.  He  would  soon  have  news 
from  home.  He  ran  to  the  shore  and  shot  off  a  gun  to 
attract  the  attention  of  those  on  board.  He  heard  an- 
swering shots  at  once. 

Soon  a  boat  was  lowered  and  in  it  three  men  rowed 
toward  the  shore.  It  was  the  captain  himself  and  two 
sailors.  The  captain  was  astonished  to  find  a  man  in 
the  lonely  island.  Robinson  told  how  it  all  had  happened 
and  how  he  would  like  to  return  home.  To  his  un- 
speakable delight  the  captain  told  him  that  the  ship  was 
bound  for  New  York  and  would  take  him  along  free  of 
charge,  but  he  must  leave  that  day.  The  ship  could 
not  be  delayed  on  its  course.  Of  course  Robinson  must 
go.  Friday  was  beside  himself  with  grief.  He  did  not 
want  to  be  left  behind  alone.  He  did  not  know  that  the 
Spaniards  would  ever  return.  Something  might  happen 
to  them  on  the  sea.     But  before  the  eventful  day  the 


196  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

Spaniards  landed.  They  brought  word  that  Friday's 
father  had  died  after  his  return  home.  Friday  was  thrown 
into  a  fit  of  grief  at  the  news.  He  wept  and  repeated  over 
and  over  his  praise  of  the  good  man. 


XLII 
ROBINSON  AT  HOME 

PREPARATION 

Will  not  Robinson  feel  sorry  to  leave  his  home  on  the  island? 
What  will  he  do  with  his  many  things?    What  will  he  find  at  home? 

Will  he  know  the  place  ?  Will  he  meet  his  parents  again  ?  What 
will  he  do  the  rest  of  his  life  ?  Write  out  a  description  of  his  arrival 
at  home. 

PRESENTATION 

It  was  with  a  sad  heart  that  Robinson  made  ready  to 

leave.     Every  familiar  place  seemed   now  doubly  dear 

to  him.    He  went  from  one  to  another  with  tears  in  his 

eyes.    Here   lay  his  home.    Here  were   his  fields,   his 

crops  and  his  goats.    Everything  was  the  work  of  his 

own  hands.    He   had   made  them  aU.    Which  should 

he  take?    He  hesitated  long.    He  must  take  home  some 

of  his  belongings  to  show  the  people  at  home.    And  there 

were  his  parrot  and  the  dog  which  had  won  a  place  in 

Robnison's  heart.     He  decided  to  take  them  along.     At 

length  he  got  together  his  diary,  his  parasol,  his  Bible, 

his  treasures,  a  suit  of  clothes,  his  dog,  and  a  hat.     He 

had  saved  too  his  bow  and  arrows.    These  he  decided 

to  take  along.     Everything  else  he  gave  to  his  good  man 

Friday  and  the  Spaniard  who  wished  to  be  allowed  to 

remain  on  the  island. 

197 


ipS  THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

Robinson  kissed  Friday  tenderly.  He  with  great 
effort  finally  tore  himself  away  and  ran  to  the  shore  where 
the  ship's  boat  awaited  him.  But  Robinson  had  not 
counted  on  the  strength  of  Friday's  love  for  him.  Robin- 
son's boat  had  not  yet  reached  the  ship  when  Friday 
sprang  into  the  water  and  swam  after  him  shouting, 
"Master,  take  me  with  you,  I  would  rather  die  than  stay 
here  without  you."  Robinson  was  touched  at  the  devo- 
tion showed  by  the  faithful  Friday,  and  gave  orders  to 
turn  the  boat  back  and  take  him  on  board.  The  anchor 
was  raised.  The  ship  started  on  her  way  to  the  home 
Robinson  had  left  so  long  ago. 

The  wind  was  favorable  and  in  seven  weeks  the  spires 
and  high  buildings  of  New  York  were  in  sight.  His 
vessel  came  slowly  up  to  the  wharf  where  he  had  taken 
ship  so  many  years  ago.  Here  too,  he  had  played  and 
idled  his  time  away.  He  remembered  it  all.  His  idle- 
ness and  playing  truant  came  back  in  sad  memories. 
Before  Robinson  and  Friday  landed,  their  good  friend 
the  captain  gave  them  each  a  new  suit  of  clothes. 

Everything  had  changed.  He  scarcely  knew  the  place. 
He  was  astonished  and  confused  by  the  din,  hurry  and 
bustle  of  a  great  city.  Friday  seemed  dazed  by  it  all  and 
clung  to  Robinson's  side.  The  buildings  were  so  tall, 
the  street  cars,  the  carriages  were  different.  Everywhere 
there  were  iron  machines,  casting  out  smoke,  puffing  and 
running  about  on  iron  rails.  Robinson  had  never  seen 
these. 

Robinson,  however,  did  not  stop  to  admire;  he  pushed 
on  to  a  certain  street  and  house  where  lived  his  parents 
at  the  time  of  his  departure.  It  was  with  difficulty  that 
he  found  the  place.  It  was  now  in  the  heart  of  the  city. 
Upon  inquiry  he  found,  after  much  searching,  that  his 


THE  TEACHER'S  ROBINSON  CRUSOE  199 

father  had  removed  his  store  and  home  to  another  part  of 
the  city,  his  mother  had  died  of  grief  for  her  disobedient 
son.  Robinson  was  sorely  grieved  at  this.  He  had 
hoped  to  see  her  and  tell  her  how  sorry  he  was  that  he 
had  caused  her  so  much  anxiety  and  sorrow. 

When  he  had  found  the  place  where  his  father  lived 
he  stole  quietly  up  to  the  house  and  opened  the  door. 
His  father,  now  a  gray-haired  man,  bent  with  age  and  sor- 
row, was  sitting  in  his  arm-chair  reading.  Robinson 
came  forward,  but  his  father  did  not  recognize  him. 
"Who  are  you?"  he  said.  "I  am  Robinson,  your  long- 
lost  son."  He  knelt  by  his  father's  side  and  asked  for- 
giveness for  all  the  trouble  he  had  caused.  His  father 
was  overcome.  He  could  not  speak.  He  drew  Robinson 
with  feeble  hands  to  his  breast.  "My  son,  I  forgive 
you,"  he  said. 

Robinson's  boyhood  friends  heard  01  his  strange  re- 
turn. They  had  thought  him  dead  long  ago.  They 
never  tired  of  hearing  him  tell  his  strange  story.  They 
pitied  him  in  his  misfortune.  But  Robinson  told  them 
that  it  all  happened  to  him  because  he  was  idle  and 
disobedient  in  his  youth. 

Robinson  at  once  relieved  his  father  at  the  store.  The 
business  thrived.  His  father  died.  He  soon  had  a  home 
of  his  own  with  a  happy  family.  Friday,  the  dog,  and  the 
parrot  lived  in  it,  dearly  beloved  and  cared  for  by  their 
master,  the  rest  of  their  days.  In  the  home  there  is  a 
young  Robinson  who  loves  to  hear  his  father  read  from  his 
diary  of  the  wonderful  things  that  happened  on  the  island. 

Robinson  tried  many  times  to  find  the  rightful  owner 
of  the  gold  and  jewels,  but  never  succeeded.  At  last 
he  gave  it  to  a  school  where  boys  with  idle  habits  were 
taught  to  lead  useful  and  industrious  lives. 


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